


Stronger Together

by RobertDBallard



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Sestras, clone club - Freeform, punky monkey brotp, we make a family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-02-14 16:15:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2198442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobertDBallard/pseuds/RobertDBallard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The fight to reunite the Clone Club in the season 2 finale and wild speculation for season 3.  All of the sestras, with some Cophine, and lots of Punky Monkey brotp to come</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to dig a little deeper into the off-camera Clone Club happenings in the S2 finale, and speculate wildly about the future. We'll start with Cosima, and work our way through the rest of the Sestras. Hope you enjoy!

"Delphine…what have you done ?"

Delphine was frightened to reveal the truth. She was supposed to be championing the battle for Cosima's health, and here she was, played so easily by a fake email from Rachel. The gut-wrenching truth was they were just pawns in Rachel's long game. Cosima was a tree, Kira was the forest. Cosima had a hard enough time accepting help from Sarah and Kira. How could she tell her what it was really for?

"Rachel took Kira." Delphine broke the news through her sobs. She thought she'd done everything right. She warned Sarah, about Benjamin, just honoring her promise to love all of Cosima's sisters. "She won't stop until she has Sarah, too."

Cosima closed her eyes a moment, letting the news wash over. This is why she didn't want to get Kira involved. The corporate proclone always had an ulterior motive. "Is she okay?" She reached for her glasses. She was just a little kid, alone in some ward brimming with scientists waiting to poke her with sticks.

"She's safe." Delphine confirmed with a nod. "And the marrow, it's processing, it should be ready for implantation tomorrow." She offered, as if the news could somehow undo the fallout of the marrow harvest.

Luring Sarah to the institute by holding her daughter hostage. It was brilliant, and frightfully cruel. What they should have expected of DYAD by now. "Rachel can use me all she wants, but I swear, if she hurts that little girl—" Her arms buckled against the mattress as she tried to sit up. It was a completely idle threat, given her current physical state.

"No harm will come to her, I will make sure of it." Delphine curled her arm around Cosima, holding her up. She was in no condition to start a crusade. Her once strong shoulders shuddered as she fought to stay upright. "Cosima, I promise." She gazed into her eyes, the familiar dark lining long faded. She owed her at least this much. She couldn't fail again. "Please, you need your rest." She leaned in, resting her forehead on Cosima's.

"She's just a kid." Cosima resigned in a sigh, every word dripping in exhaustion.

"I'll look after Kira tonight, and we'll have everything ready for you in the morning." She was this close to buying herself more time with the transplant. Once she had the marrow, Ethan would unlock more of the cryptic synthetic sequences. Everything would be better in the morning.

"Sleep tight,  _petit chiot_."

* * *

"Good as can be expected." Scott carefully placed the processed marrow vials in the lab fridge. He felt a sense of relief. He was the unfortunate witness to Cosima's plummeting health spiral. He'd seen her go from enthusiastic science sprite, to a woman who could barely put two feet on the ground. Cosima had held on for this long, now they could finally focus on getting her well.

"Nice job, nerd." Cosima high-fived him. "I wouldn't expect any Christmas cards from the lab techs, though." She managed a smile, leaning on the lab bench for support.

"I wasn't kidding when I said I'd be looking over their shoulders the whole time." He replied with a sheepish grin. As much as Cosima teased him, she was grateful for his unwavering support. Speaking of which, where the hell was Delphine?

She barely had time to finish the thought before Martin burst through her lab's doors, flanked by a few nameless labcoats. "Good, you're awake."

"Yeah. What's going on?" She eyed the new faces suspiciously, her heart racing as they bee-lined for the marrow vials. "Whoa, hey…." She ambled over to Martin, dragging the oxygen tank with her. This wasn't part of the schedule.

"Hey! You can't take that!" Scott tried to rush the thieving intruders, only to be stymied by a security guard.

"We just finished processing that material, Martin." Her voice trembled. The marrow was her lifeline. To see two strangers unceremoniously stuffing it into a cooler was unnerving to say the least.

"And your transplant is being booked. The marrow's being sent directly to Dr. Nealon."

"Dr. Nealon? Who's Dr. Nealon?" She'd never heard that name before. What were they hiding?

"Your new physician." His cool, calm demeanor was alarming.

"What? I have a new physician?" What was going on, and where the hell was Delphine?

"Dr. Cormier didn't tell you? It was all on Rachel's orders."

And there it was. Rachel had found another way to use Cosima's illness as leverage against her sisters.

"Where's Delphine?" Cosima had to ask, no matter how much she feared the answer.

"Dr. Cormier has been reassigned to our Frankfurt campus. Rachel felt her expertise was a better fit heading our German Operations."

Felt. Right. More like Rachel had made the cold calculation that Delphine was an obstacle, not an asset, to whatever twisted plan she had for the three marrow vials now under lock and key.

Cosima retreated to the bed, the weight of the news far too heavy to bear. She didn't even get to say goodbye. She set her glasses down, trying to stem the tide of tears forming. There was no time to cry. She literally could not spare the energy.

"She…she can't do this. No one is more familiar with her illness than Delphine." Scott gave the softer approach a try. "We need her."

"Dr. Nealon has all of Dr. Cormier's records. She'll get the best possible care." It was as though Martin was lazily running through the DYAD script.

"She had the best care, you took it away." He tersely spat as Cosima's email dinged in alert behind him.

Cosima squinted, finding her glasses again. Delphine! She opened the attachment to find the tightest spreadsheet she'd ever seen. Of course it was Rachel's itinerary. Meetings. Meals. Sarah Manning, OR 1. Holy bombshell.

"This is not for debate, Mr. Smith, if you wish to remain involved—" Martin scolded the young lab tech

"Uh, Martin?" Cosima cut in, improvising the best way to get him out of there so they could handle this new intel. "Can you just tell Dr. Nealon I'm really excited to work with him?"

Scott looked at her like she had six heads.

"Um, is there anything I can do for Sarah? I just don't want anybody to get hurt." She gripped the edge of the bed, trying to settle her trembling body. "Maybe if I can't see Sarah, then I can see Kira? She's just a little kid…it'd be a nice gesture from you guys, we can foster cooperation." Their twisted plan had worked, Sarah was finally under DYAD's thumb. Of course Cosima felt responsible. She knew DYAD only saw Sarah as an anomaly. She was a collection of parts they'd longed to investigate. Cosima didn't want to imagine what cruelties Sarah had already been subject to.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Awesome. Thank you."

Scott made sure Martin was clear out of sight before looking to Cosima. He knew when Cosima's wheels were turning. He'd seen it time after time in the lab, sharing a workspace together. "What are you up to?"

"I don't know yet."

"We should really leave."

"Yeah. We probably should. But they're planning something for Sarah. Delphine just sent me Rachel's Itinerary." They couldn't abandon her there, not after everything she'd sacrificed for her. Cosima was the biology. The Geek Monkey. She was supposed to be the science to save the others from this intrusive fate. She wouldn't allow it.

"So, we know where she's gonna be?" He was kind of following the gist of it.

"And we know where Sarah's gonna be." Get them together, and they might have a chance of breaking her out. "We're never seeing that marrow again." Cosima buried a cough in her shoulder. Rachel had been playing games with Cosima's health long enough for her to know when something was up. Delphine was gone. On a DYAD plane. Given how that journey went for Dr. Leekie, she may have seen Delphine for the last time. No. She wouldn't accept that. One crisis at a time.


	2. Chapter 2

"It has to be simple. Enough to blend in without looking weird." Cosima looked around the lab for something they could use, her emphatic gestures tamed by the progression of her disease.

"Something sharp? She'll have surgical instruments around." Scott rifled through a couple of drawers.

"That's a start." Cosima moved as fast her body would allow. "But we need more. What if she's like, tied down?" She couldn't exactly overpower anyone with a manual weapon in that situation.

"She'd need something to do it for her." Scott tried to keep up. Her body may have been weak, but her mind was still going a million miles an hour.

"Something with pressure." Her eyes landed on her oxygen tank. Too much pressure. Blow-up-a-room pressure. Just above it, on the wall. "Fire extinguisher." Her eyes lit up. Crazy science. "We rig it. Instead of shooting foam, we shoot something smaller. Faster." Her hands were going again.

Scott picked a pencil out of his lab coat pocket.

"Bingo." Cosima smiled for the first time in ages. A simple modification, and they would be off to the races. Where they would go, what they would do…that was something they could figure out when the time came.

"Just one thing." No, Scott wasn't worried about the device. "How do we tell Sarah?" A piece of equipment was only as good as its operator. It was science lab 101.

"They have to let me see her." Cosima tried bargaining with Martin before, maybe it would actually be of some use. She knew too well that DYAD wasn't always a keeper of their word.

"I have an idea." Scott headed for the door.

"Dude, where are you going?"

"Making sure I stay on the case." He had an idea, and it was just crazy enough to work. Now, to find Martin.

* * *

Sarah kept thinking back to the one-way mirror. Rachel was dangling Kira in front of her, reminding Sarah just how powerless she was here. It wasn't what she had in mind when she demanded to see her daughter. Stone cold bitch.

"You got what you want. When's Cosima gettin' her transplant?" Sarah had been poked and prodded in more ways than she cared to share. She'd lost track of the hours she'd been in the bloody building. So much was out of her hands.

"Cosima's procedure is imminent." Dr. Nealon jerked her arm back in his direction. He still had plenty of labs to draw, and tests to probe. They had their white whale, and they damn well were going to take their time to get everything right.

Whether Sarah believed him was another story. Truth was a loose term to DYAD. And yet, she was forced to have faith that they weren't complete monsters. After all, to let Cosima die, was to let their experiment fail. "Do what you want to me. Just…keep her alive." She was the science. She had the answers. She was absolutely lost without her.

* * *

Cosima insisted on walking to Kira's room. She refused to let Rachel see her defeated by a disease she allowed to perpetuate. As expected, she was just outside Kira's door, waiting for the exhausted scientist.

"How are you feeling?" Rachel asked, as devoid of emotion as she was the last time she'd inquired, bursting in on Cosima and Delphine.

"Amazing. I should be in a vitamin commercial." Cosima defiantly silenced a cough, trying to maintain her composure in front of the arrogant puppeteer. She was tired of being a bargaining chip in DYADs greedy quest for information.

"You have fifteen minutes." Rachel sneered. "You'll be needing your rest."

"How very generous of you." Cosima wheezed. The constant reminder of how little energy she had to fight. Still, it was all the time she needed to get Kira on board with their bizarre plan to spring Sarah free.

"Fourteen minutes." A security guard opened the door on Rachel's order, and ushered Cosima inside.

"Auntie Cosima!" Kira beamed, overjoyed to see a friendly face.

"Hey, monkey." Cosima gave her the best hug she could muster. The skype sessions with Sarah didn't do her justice. In person, this child was a radiant beam of goodness.

"Is my bone marrow making you better?"

"It will soon enough." Cosima couldn't tell her the whole truth. She didn't need to know her marrow was being held hostage. She settled in on the bed, grateful to have a moment of rest. "You were really brave, Kira, thank you."

"It didn't hurt, I already feel better." She shrugged, turning her attention to the coloring utensils on the bed.

"That's good. That's good, I'm glad to hear it. You're a superhero." She managed a smile, stealing a glance at one of the surveillance cameras. The clock was ticking. "Um, you wanna do some science?"

* * *

"Hello, Arthur." Helena greeted the detective, having already destroyed the donut package on his kitchen counter.

"Helena?" Sarah hadn't said a word about her in a long time. "What are you doing here?"

"I had a long trip. I was hungry." The answer left much to be desired. She was a detective's worst nightmare

"Yeah? Where you coming from?"

"I went to see my sestra, she was not at home." Sarah was nowhere to be found at Mrs. S's place. She went to the next safe place she could think of

"I mean, before that." By the looks of her dress, it was either the Prolethean Ranch, or a Colonial Williamsburg reenactment party.

"Where is Sarah?" She dug into his cereal container. This was going to be a one-way conversation.

Despite his Clone Club membership, Art was not equipped to handle a surprise visit from Helena. Not by a long shot. Felix couldn't pick up the phone fast enough.

* * *

Scott paced around the corner from the grand glass office. Rachel was gone, but her man Martin was minding the house. Perfect. "Uh-uhm, Martin?" He approached the desk.

"Mr. Smith." He rose cautiously. Considering their last encounter, he couldn't be too careful. He did not expect Scott to wrap him in a bear hug.

"I'm sorry." Scott didn't even hug his mother this well. "Cosima's my friend, I just got carried away." His hand slipped in Martin's suit pocket, slyly groping for his passcard.

"It's…it's alright." Martin tentatively returned the embrace as robotically as his DYAD-programmed self could.

"And if there's anything I can do for Cosima, or Sarah, or even Kira, please, just let me know." Scott kept his arms on Martin's shoulders. God, was he selling it.

"Right." Martin backed away a step. He was willing to do anything to never experience that kind of human warmth again. "Why don't you assist Dr. Nealon in his procedure? Tell Cosima to think of it as our gesture of good faith."

"Thank you." Scott pulled him in for one more deliciously awkward hug before breaking off for the lab, all access passcard safely tucked in his pocket.

* * *

Force. Mass times acceleration. So simple, a child could grasp it. Certainly not the easiest way out of the room, but the jerry-rigged fire extinguisher was all they had. The measurements were precise, the calculations were sound, all they needed to do was get the damn thing to Sarah's room. Cosima reached for another layer of duct tape, but her legs folded beneath her, too weary to finish the job.

"Cosima…" Scott peeled her trembling body off the floor as she fought to steady herself.

"I'm okay, sorry, I'm okay." She fought back with every last ounce of her waning energy.

"It's not gonna work." He pulled her up to her feet once more.

"It has to work, she needs us." They were the only people in position to help. They weren't allowed to fail. Bust out of DYAD together. It was the only option Cosima would accept.

"Cosima…hey." She was losing the battle against gravity. The mad science experiment had pushed her to the brink. "Let me do this." He flashed Martin's card.

"Where'd you get that?" One did not simply procure an all-access DYAD pass.

"We're only gonna get one chance." He'd laid out his cards. He was all in for Cosima, no matter the cost.

"They'll ruin you, Scott." She didn't want him to be another casualty in this war. She couldn't afford to lose another one of the few friends she had.

"Let them try." His eyes wandered to the clock on the wall. He was going to have to move it if he wanted to beat everyone to the OR. He helped Cosima back to bed. She'd given everything she had. It was up to him to pass the torch to Sarah. "I'll come get you when it's over, and we'll get the hell out of here, okay?"

"Deal, man." She hugged him gently. Words couldn't to justice to her gratitude to have him in her corner. He'd never seemed so confident. So sure. They were going to pull this off. "Tell Sarah I said hey."

* * *

"What kind of crisis of Faith?" With or without Felix, Art was still hitting roadblocks.

"He was stealing babies. So I put babies inside of him." Helena replied with a mischievous grin.

Felix had never been more relieved to hear his clone phone go off. "Bloody Christ, thank you." He mumbled, stepping out of the room to answer. "Cal? What's going on?" He tried to be mindful of his tone with Helena nearby. He wasn't ready for the onslaught of information that followed. Secret DYAD Powersuit springing Sarah and Kira free, Cosima too, could he fetch Alison? Like that wasn't enough to swallow. "And you're sure?" He confirmed, spinning on his heel back towards the other room. He didn't care if he had to drive Alison on a pedicab, buck naked in the freezing cold if it meant his sister was safe. He'd probably pick up a few more clients for his troubles.  _Actually…_. He entertained the thought for a fleeting moment. No. Not the proper circumstances.

"Art, keep feeding her. Meet at my flat in an hour." He buttoned his coat all the way before looking to Helena. He had to give her something. "Sarah will be there waiting."

* * *

Moments after Scott's exit, Cosima was greeted by a new seemingly all-powerful woman, flanked by her own set of men. She couldn't help but notice one looked horribly out of place. The flannel and beard was better suited for the hipster bar around the corner, not the fifth floor of the DYAD.

"Marion Bowles." The suit introduced herself. "I must admit, I am an avid fan of your work." The warm smile was off-putting after what Cosima had seen that day.

"Okay." She replied through a cough. The name was meaningless to her, but damn it all if Marion didn't look the part of someone who actually had a say in the mess she was currently buried under.

"We've arranged a ride home for you, you can leave whenever you're ready."

"What about Sarah and Kira?" Together. That was the plan.

"Arranging their discharge as we speak." It would be easier to rebel if that smile wasn't so damn comforting. "Do excuse me." She silenced her ringing phone. "I look forward to our next meeting, Ms. Niehaus. Get some rest." She strode off to her next problem to solve, leaving Cal alone with Cosima.

"Uh, thanks." She turned her attention to Cal, eyeing him suspiciously. How did she know she could trust him?

What was the thing Felix told him to say? "Just one, I'm a few, no family too. Who am I?"

"Is Sarah safe?" The relief washed over her. Finally, an ally in a high place.

"Sarah, Kira, Alison, we're taking care of everything." He confirmed, helping her gather the essentials. She'd been living in the lab since her illness took a turn, there really wasn't much to salvage. Her laptop, some files, and a spare oxygen canister. She was ready.

"Maybe, uh, send Felix to get Alison, she doesn't do well with strangers." Of anyone they could send, he was the least likely to get maced.

"It's handled, don't worry." He didn't expect someone so sick to be worried about so many other people.

"And Scott? I don't know what Marion can do, but she's gotta help him." She wouldn't be much of a friend if she didn't use the one chance she had to repay the favor he'd granted her.

"She's got people." He helped her along to the limo waiting downstairs. "Let's take care of you first."


	3. Chapter 3

"We had an agreement, they can't keep her caged in there like some, some animal." Alison paced nervously. Felix didn't have time to give her the details over the phone. Her paranoid imagination was running wild with horrific possibilities. "We can't just watch, we have to do something."

"We've got our ace in the hole." Donnie raised an eyebrow. Of course. The dead scientist in their garage floor. They had their leverage.

"They don't know we know what we know." She was game. They were thick as thieves since the Leekie incident, and she was ready to ride off with her partner-in-crime to get justice. Good lord, it was exhilarating. "We blackmail them, and demand Sarah and Kira be released."

"No." Donnie puffed out his chest. "Your family just got you back. It's time I start pulling my weight." Who knew accidental murder made a man so bold? "You hold the fort, baby, I'll deal with DYAD."

Mere minutes after sending Donnie off with a certified  _nasty_  goodbye kiss, Alison heard a knock at the door. She instinctively reached for her sidearm, creeping up to the curtain to take a peek outside. Felix.

"Oi, do you mind?" he nodded to the pistol, greeting him facefirst.

"Sorry." She tucked away the weapon, ushering him inside. Old habits die hard. "What in the holy heck is happening over there?" Were they okay? What about Cosima?

"I don't know." He shook his head, not wanting to think of the cruelty being unleashed on his sister. "But I do know Mrs. S and Cal have some secret convoluted plan to bust 'em out. We're gonna meet them back at my place."

"Cal? Who's Cal?" Her paranoia was running full-force. She wasn't ready to trust another stranger given their circumstances.

"Kira's father, handsome lumberjack, long story." He said as they piled into Alison's minivan. "Actually, I think you might like him." Speaking of which… "Where's Donnie?"

"Heading to DYAD, demanding Rachel set Sarah and Kira free." She was rather proud of his bold new attitude.

"Donnie? Effing Donnie?" he wasn't sure he'd heard her correctly. "Christ, she'll eat him alive." He couldn't help but laugh.

"Actually, he has a very convincing argument." She replied defensively. Ah, bickering like old times

"What's he gonna do, sit on her?" No matter how dire the circumstance, Felix couldn't resist pushing Alison's buttons.

* * *

"So, you're Cal." Cosima curled up on the limo seat. She may have heard a few things.

"Whatever Sarah told you, it's not true." He offered a smile. He was still adjusting to meeting his first clone. Genetic identicals, and yet, Cosima couldn't have been more different than Sarah. It wasn't just the dreadlocks and the nose ring. Despite the ravaging illness and the DYAD drama, there was a light behind those eyes that Sarah never had.

"Oh, I'll bet." Her laugh quickly turned to a violent cough. Heaven forbid she was allowed to have a little fun without being reminded of her dire circumstances.

"Should we pull over?" Cal wasn't as used to the hacking routine.

"We're almost there." She wheezed, refusing to allow for it. Felix's apartment was the closest thing she had to a home since she'd taken the job at DYAD. It would be a welcomed hint of normalcy.

A short car ride later, Cal helped usher her up the stairs. He wished she hadn't insisted on doing it herself, it hurt just to look at her.

"Thanks for the lift." Cosima waved as he headed back to the limo. "Get her back safe."

"Yes ma'am." He gave a faux salute while he disappeared down the stairs.

Cosima knocked gently. She was worlds away from the last time she'd shown up with a suitcase and an apology. Scary how quickly things escalated, really.

Felix opened the door instantaneously. They were equally relieved to see the other standing upright. "Crap, man, I heard she got you good." Cosima greeted him with a gentle hug.

"Please." He rolled his eyes. "I call that dose a Tuesday night." Totally shrugging off a needle to the neck with a joke, of course.

"She should've known better." She winced ever so slightly lowering herself down to the couch. She'd be okay not moving for awhile after all the commotion the day brought.

"Is she here?" Alison was distracted by her cleaning campaign, attempting to bring some sense of tidiness to the apartment. She knew Cosima's condition was bad, but she wasn't prepared to see her like this. She looked so pale, so cold, it was far worse in person than over their Clone Club Skype session. "Oh…goodness."

"Hey, no, it's okay." She silenced a cough in her hand as Alison's fuss machine came out in full force. Pillows were fluffed, blankets were folded. "Honestly, it's just good to be out of that place." Even with all the uncertainty that came with leaving DYAD without her promised treatment, she felt way safer in Felix's loft, where no one was making back room deals about her health.

"Did…did they hurt you?" Alison twirled her cross nervously, too afraid to ask about specifics. She'd been so detached; ducking DeAngelis, dealing with the Leekie, she couldn't help but feel guilty about her sisters taking the brunt of DYADs wrath.

"No, not at all, nothing like that." Cosima shut down the notion. She couldn't stop Alison's freight train of maternal worry, but she wasn't going to burden her with what she'd experienced either. They didn't hurt her, they just refused to help her. "And hopefully, if our plan worked, neither did Sarah."

"Unbelievable." Felix crossed his arms. "Delphine's in charge for ten minutes, and shit completely hits the fan." He scoffed. He'd still felt she was to blame for everything that'd happened to his sister and niece. It didn't matter to him how Cosima felt about her. In his mind, she'd betrayed the Clone Club far too many times.

"It wasn't her." Cosima coughed, coming to her defense. "Rachel set her up to get Kira." She wasn't mad at Felix, he didn't know what she knew. Being the Geek Monkey gave her the burden of knowledge, she'd volunteered for the position long ago, so she accepted it. She pulled her laptop out, hoping she'd some word from the people left behind. "Not like it matters any more, Delphine's gone."

"Gone where?" Felix hadn't expected that bomb to drop. Gamechanger.

"Frankfurt, according to Rachel." So, anywhere, really. Nothing in her inbox. If Delphine really was on a plane, she couldn't expect word from her for a few more hours, at least, but she hadn't expected Scott and Ethan to be completely in the wind.

"But, she was your monitor, they don't just fire monitors." Alison pulled a bowl of soup from the stove for Cosima, contributing the only way she knew how.

"Lord knows if they did, Donnie would've been done years ago." Felix leaned on the counter

"You need to eat." Alison shot him a glare while she pushed the bowl across the coffee table.

"Right, starve a cold, feed an autoimmune disease." She accepted it with a slight smile before rubbing her temples tiredly. Delphine was hard to talk about. She couldn't dwell on it. Her time was running out. She had to keep chasing the science if she wanted to stick around. It was time she came clean with the truth. "I'm not really holding out for a new monitor."

"What do you mean? They gave you the bone marrow, Ethan's workin' on a cure, they have to keep an eye on you." Felix wasn't following.

"There was no transplant." It hurt to break the news. It meant everything they'd sacrificed, the pain Kira had to go through, whatever unspoken torture Sarah endured, was all for naught.

"That…that's unacceptable, you need that marrow, they know that!" They broke their deal. Alison was livid. It wasn't right.

Felix leaned against the counter. DYAD had thrown the riles out the window. "Bloody hell, we're in the shit now." He sighed

"Yeah." Cosima folded her wandering hands, fumbling her fingers nervously. So, so much uncertainty. If Cal and Marion were telling the truth, Sarah would be joining them soon. They'd come up with something. They had to. She couldn't avoid the next round of coughs that spewed up with a vengeance.

Alison quit her nervous pacing to sit next to Cosima on the couch. She rested her hand on her back, trying to quell the storm brewing in her lungs and esophagus and bring some silent comfort.

Felix's phone dinged in his pocket. Art, again. He was a popular man today. "Mrs. S." He lied, putting the phone back in his pocket. They'd dealt with enough for one afternoon, no need to pile Helena on top just yet. "Sarah'll be here soon. Call me if you need anything, yeah?" He buttoned his collar, giving them a nod before sliding the door behind him.

Cosima's exhaustion was finally catching up with her. She curled up on the couch, resting her head on Alison's lap while she set her gun, car keys, and phone on the coffee table. Be available, be ready.


	4. Chapter 4

Art was running out of things to feed Helena. She'd downed every last pickle from a jar in the back of the fridge he didn't remember buying. Sarah owed him a few months of groceries when this was all over. It seemed like a useless tactic. She wouldn't answer any of his questions about the ranch; what were they really doing there, and most importantly, how did she escape again? He'd interrogated plenty of murderers before. None of them had Helena's resolve. She stared at his fish tank, transfixed by the creature following her finger. "I like your pet. What is his name?"

"Fish." He wasn't the sentimental type. Not to mention, the tank's previous tenant only lasted a month. "Helena, I really need you to tell me what happened at that ranch."

"I don't know." A needle. Restraints. Cold hands. Fuzzy mind. Babies stolen. She shut out the rest. She couldn't give it a voice again. "Take me to Sarah, please."

"Helena…" He promised he wouldn't spill the beans on Sarah, lord knows what kind of warpath Helena would unleash. They did something awful to her, her avoidance confirmed it. Anything could set her off. He was reaching the bottom of his stall tactics barrel. Felix's knock on the door couldn't have been better timed. "The hell took you so long?" Art let him in.

"Everyone's back safe, thanks for asking." Felix swanned his way through the kitchen.

"Good." Art backed off a little, grabbing his coat.

"Finished eatin' the pantry?" Felix tossed Helena a hand towel. "Come on, Sarah's waiting."

That got Helena's attention real quick. "Where are we going?"

"Home, with your other sisters, Alison and Cosima." The names she was once primed to kill. It was a lifetime ago. Did they know she was changed? What if they hated her for the things Tomas made her do? She had to put her faith in her twin sestra. She wouldn't let anything bad happen.

"Right, let's go then." Felix wasn't entirely sure how she'd be received by her sisters, but she was safer with them than anywhere else. If she really did burn down the ranch, someone had to be chasing after her.

* * *

 

"If you ever want to stop running. If you want the truth. If you want to know what this is really all about, then you meet me tomorrow." Marion folded her arms, staring down Sarah from across the room. She deserved to know the full story, she just hoped she trusted her enough to take the first step. "Cal can arrange it. He's downstairs, waiting to take you home to your sisters."

"Miss Manning, right this way." A sleek suited security guard instantly appeared to escort the pair downstairs. A clean break. It felt too easy. Cal was there waiting, in a bloody limo, no less.

"It's alright now, monkey." Sarah was trying to come down from the insane adrenaline rush she was still feeling. Kira's bone marrow was gone. Rachel was on the floor bleeding somewhere. Dead? Maybe, but after what'd happened with Helena, she wasn't going to assume anything. Kira was going home safe in her arms. In this sliver of a moment, nothing else mattered. "They're not gonna hurt you any more, I promise."

"Is Auntie Cosima gonna be okay?" She didn't get the bone marrow. She couldn't explain how she knew, she just did. Everyone kept saying how important it was to make her feel better.

Sarah was always up front with Kira. She couldn't start lying now, no matter how much the truth hurt. "I don't know." She squatted down to Kira's level. "But we're gonna do everything we can to help." She wished she had a better answer. "And, if anyone can find an answer, it's Auntie Cosima."

"She's really smart." Kira smiled, thinking back to their science lesson. She didn't understand exactly how all the science came together, but she knew it got them out.

"Just like you." Sarah touched her forehead to Kira's as Cal approached the pair.

"Hope you don't mind riding in style." He was nearly knocked over by Kira's hug.

"Got a kitchen in there, too?" Sarah greeted him with a kiss, before looking back to Kira. "Why don't you go inside and see how big it is, yeah?" The grownups needed to talk for a minute.

"And then we can see my Aunties?" She missed them dearly, and she knew it would be good for her mom to see them again. They were family, whose love and trust they so badly needed to feel after their stint at DYAD.

"In a heartbeat." Cal promised, sending her off to explore the lavish limo. Once she was in, Sarah pulled him in for another kiss. Deeper, this time, rich with passion. To feel real human warmth, his rugged, yet gentle, touch after being treated like a caged specimen was like coming up for air.

"I don't know what you did, but I can't thank you enough." She didn't know how he'd react when he found her in his cabin those many weeks ago. She never meant for him to get wrapped up in this mess, but she was so glad he did. Her allies in this war had come in the strangest forms.

"You can thank Kira, she sent the S-O-S." He brushed a stray curl behind her ear, getting lost in her eyes for a moment. Something was gone. He didn't have the stomach to wonder what happened to her under DYAD's roof, but a part of her died in there. They couldn't hurt her anymore. Marion promised.

"Brilliant, that one." Kira was special, make no mistake. All the more important to get her far away from that Godforsaken place.

"I'm afraid I don't know too much, but I do know this Marion is the real deal." He rested his hands on her shoulders. "Above Rachel, above DYAD, everything. You really need to meet with her." He had a feeling Sarah and her sisters were just the tip of the rabbit hole.

"Don't think I really have a choice." Knowledge was power in their war, and Marion seemed to have all of it. With Ethan dead, and Cosima in grave condition, they desperately needed to know what she knew.

* * *

 

Cosima's chest heaved with each labored breath. Rest didn't come easy for her. She was too tired to move, yes, but her mind was racing at full speed. How was she supposed to explain that she had no answers, no plan for the next step? She was the science, and she let her sisters down. Alison stayed poised at attention, giving soothing backrubs, and clean tissues when the coughs got bloody. It was the hellish nightmare version of the bronchitis her kids got last winter. Her email inbox dinged to life with a new message. She sprang to attention, hoping for a morsel of news.

No, it wasn't Delphine, but rather, Scott. She shrugged her glasses on, squinting at the subject line.

"What is it?" Alison was surprised by how fast she'd moved.

Still here. OK. Marion Bowles says hey.

"Still good people left at DYAD." Scott was safe. She made a mental note to quit it with the virgin jokes. Marion was the real deal after all. Their new friend was perched in a very high place.

"Can we really believe that?" Alison resumed her slow, nervous pace, looking for a crooked canvas to straighten. She had a hard time putting her faith in anyone still tied to a place that caused so much grief for all of them.

"Something's going down over there. I think we have to give it a shot." She stuffed a cough in her shoulder as a knock came from the door.

Alison swiftly grabbed her gun before pulling the screwdriver out of its makeshift door latch position. She slid it in the nearby shelf as soon as she saw Sarah standing before her. "Oh, thank goodness." She pulled Sarah into a surprisingly tight hug.

"S'good to see you too, Alison." Sarah let a small smile escape. Funny to think this was the same woman who pointed a gun at her face.

Kira snuck around the pair to spy Cosima on the couch, covering up the pile of blood-soiled tissues. She didn't need to see how bad it really was.

"Hey, little scientist." Cosima grinned, welcoming Kira into a hug after she climbed on the couch beside her. That warm little bundle of awesome made her feel like she'd gotten her second wind. She'd need it to explain what she knew to her sisters.

"I think Mommy liked my picture."

"I think so too." Cosima whispered, leaning in. Scott was sketchy on the details with Rachel, but it sounded like she'd gotten the beating she'd long deserved. Even the Berkeley pacifist had her limits. She willed herself to her feet, seeing Sarah across the apartment. So, so, so much they each wanted to say.

"Kira, let's get you settled in, hm?" Alison caught the moment hanging between them.

Sarah waited until Kira was out of earshot. "Cos, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Rachel…she threw a bloody tantrum, and the marrow, it's all gone." She held her hands to her head for a second, wracked with guilt. God, they had one chance and she blew it.

Cosima came closer. Of course she didn't blame Sarah for what happened. They all made it home, that was the important part. Sarah just needed to feel it. "Hey, you're okay." She gently hugged Sarah, echoing the sentiment she'd shared when Cosima showed up with her tail between her legs over Delphine's betrayal.

Sarah shook her head. They may have escaped the building, but they were so far away from being okay. She didn't want to drop this next bomb. "Ethan's dead, I don't know what we're supposed to do."


	5. Chapter 5

The news hung in the air, and a flicker of resolve faded in Cosima's eyes as she slowly lowered herself back to the couch with a little help from Sarah. "We're gonna figure something out. We've got the sequences, we just need to crack them." Cosima's hands wandered, smoothing the sleeves of Sarah's scrubs. She looked beat. "Are  _you_  okay? I mean, the surgery, did they—" The vague listing on Rachel's schedule left her ideas she was too afraid to voice.

"They wanted to do an oopherectomy, didn't get too far, thanks to you." Sarah shuddered to think what would've happened had they succeeded. Even when Cosima was barely upright, fighting off tremors, she was more focused on Sarah's well-being. It was amazing.

"Geez." Cosima looked away. It was ruthless and fitting for DYAD's tactics. Just another way to gather data to them.

"But Delphine, she can still help, yeah?" Sarah flipped her hair nervously.  Lord knows, she had to be useful for something

"She's in Frankfurt." Cosima shook her head. "Or, on the way to Frankfurt, I guess." Her help was off the table for now. "Rachel's orders."

"Shite, Cos." That was a lot of heartache for one day. For the first time, she sensed defeat in Cosima.  The woman who saw opportunity over fear or anger in their cloneship status.  Sarah admired and secretly envied how Cosima embraced the beauty in their uniqueness.  It was gutting to see her start to lose her resolve.

"Yeah." No Duncan, no cipher, no cure. The gravity was not lost on Cosima.

Alison rejoined the pair after Kira went down for a nap. The Clone Club was together again. They looked to each other, equally lost in this mess, hoping one might have the key to securing their future.

Sarah broke the silence. "There's someone I'm meetin' tomorrow. She helped spring me loose, says she knows the truth about us."

"Marion Bowles? Powersuit got me too." Cosima perked up a little.

"Who is she?" Alison was always the last to know these sorts of details.  This was the price she paid

"A big deal, apparently." Sarah shrugged. "I don't know. Someone in that thick with DYAD has to be hiding something."

"International conspiracy, faked deaths, what else is left?" Cosima was showing glints of her formerly animated self.

"Got a point, I 'spose." 

"If she really is in charge, she's got a heck of a lot of explaining to do." Alison had never wanted a glass of wine so freakin badly.

"You gonna let me borrow your glue gun, then?" Sarah smirked, clinging to that sense of humor.

She'd cracked the tension right in half. Even Alison couldn't help but smile after rolling her eyes.

"Right, Cal's downstairs waitin', he really wants to meet you guys."

"Oh, we're old pals." Cosima raised an eyebrow, resting her chin on her hand.

Alison piled a fresh, neatly folded pile of clothes next to Sarah. "Hop to it then, let's get you out of these scrubs." If she was to meet this Cal fellow, he certainly wouldn't allow him to think she'd let her sister stay dressed like this around company.

A few minutes later, Sarah slid open the giant metal door. Handsome lumberjack of a man, as promised. He tried really hard to mask the surprise of seeing the three of them together, in the flesh.

"You gonna make it, man?" Cosima teased his speechlessness.

"Yeah, yeah." He laughed, finding his words again. "Kira's drawing just doesn't do you ladies justice."

"Right, you've met Cosima, the cheeky one, this is Alison."

"The soccer mom, right?"

"Mhmm." Alison somehow managed to stand even straighter. Felix was right, he was Donnie's polar opposite. "What do you do, Cal?" It was part information gathering, part suburban small talk.  It wasn't easy to get in her circle of trust. 

"I was a software engineer, now I'm kinda off the grid." It was a strategic reveal for him.  He didn't want them to think he had it a little more together than the hacking whiz kid that was in him.  

"Deep undercover, just like that?" Alison brought him a beer he never asked for, somehow managing to play host in someone else's home. She wished she could've vanished off the grid a few times in the last few months.

"You find ways to get by, it's actually kinda nice." He took a sip of the beer. "Get to spend a lot of time outdoors."

"So, um, how did you two meet?" Cosima made sure to get her digs in. The sisters were putting the man through the paces. It was just like any other family.

Sarah and Cal looked to each other. It was a little easier to laugh at it after what they'd been through the last couple of weeks.

"It's a bit complicated…" Her sisters knew she had a troubled past, but she'd never given them the details of her pre-clone club life quite like this.

"She robbed me blind." Cal cut in. It was part of their history. Their strange, wonderful, convoluted history.

"Really? How much?" 

"Cosima!"

"What, you're not curious?"

"It was a long time ago." Sarah felt her cheeks flush. "And it was the easiest 10 grand I ever made."

"Holy sh-ugar cubes." Alison's mouth hung agape. She knew she was capable of it, hell, she almost ran off with 75 grand when they met, but managing to score that much off a guy like Cal, and keep him around as an ally? She was almost proud.

"Hot damn." Cosima raised an eyebrow. She couldn't say she was too surprised, if she'd learned one thing about Sarah in all this mess, it's that she always found a way to survive.

"Now that you know the basics, can I ask how a soccer mom and a scientist manage to stumble on all this mess?" Cal figured it was his turn to get a few rounds in.

"I can give you the quick and dirty version." Cosima coughed, the ticking clock threaded through her nostrils reminding her of her limits.

"One of us was a cop." Alison took over. "She found us through the DMV files."

Her absence and the past tense description told Cal he should back off a little.

"Kinda hard not to buy into the clone theory after we all got together." Cosima explained. "So I took some samples back to school and been trying to figure us out ever since." The coughs started coming harder. "The uh, sexy nose tubes are thanks to an autoimmune disease we can't figure out." If he wanted in on Clone Club, he might as well know the whole story.

"…And that's what the tooth and the bone marrow were all about." He was finally putting the pieces together.

"The tooth was a band-aid, but the marrow might have helped." Cosima nodded. "Fun, right?" The reality of the situation was anything but.

Alison resumed her nervous pacing, it was just her body's way of coping with everything that'd happened. She'd spent her whole life believing everything would be perfect as long as she followed the rules. Keep a perfect home, and be the perfect wife with the perfect life. Here, she had no answers. There was no plan to study. Her sister was dying, and there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop it.

"Ya got any more depressin' questions for us?" Sarah hoped to right the sinking mood.

"I gotta hand it to you, you guys are pretty amazing." It took resilience to fight their battle, and he was in awe of how well they'd banded together.

"We find our ways." Alison let a smile escape. It was hard to pass up a compliment when it came from that gorgeous, bearded face.

"Just FYI, if you mess with Sarah, we're gonna have to kick your ass." Cosima smiled. "Sorry man, rules of Clone Club."

"Message received." He laughed, putting his hands up defensively. "Alright, I better get going, gotta take care of a few things before tomorrow."

"Come on, I'll walk ya down." Sarah rolled her eyes

"Well, tonight was certainly informative." He headed for the door.

"Gimme five?" Sarah followed him out, looking to her sisters.

"Later Cal." Cosima waved. He got the seal of approval.

"Take care." He looked her in the eye. He sincerely hoped their efforts would lead her to a better treatment.

"Yeah, nice to meet you."

"He's hot!" Alison mouthed once his back was turned. Cosima added her nod of approval. Sarah couldn't help but smile. This was what growing up with sisters was like. In this turbulent time, it was comforting. These two had her back, no matter what was coming around the corner. She closed the door behind her, leaving the two alone once more.

Cosima melted back to the couch, physically drained by the busy afternoon. Cal's visit almost made her forget about the corner she'd been painted into by DYAD. It was time to get back to her devastating reality. She was living on borrowed time, and the people who could help her were out of reach. She folded her arms, burrowing against the couch in an attempt to feel warm again. Her logic was winning out. The scientist in her knew too much to try to conjure more hope for her sisters to cling on.

The sliding door snapped her out of her slight daze. Felix appeared with…could it be?

"Helena, this is your sister, Cosima."


	6. Chapter 6

Helena: from the Greek meaning, shining light. She lowered her head, entering the room like a shy child meeting her cousins for the first time. Would her other sestras love her as Sarah loved her?

"Hey." Cosima grinned, greeting her like an old friend. She leaned on her tank as Felix helped her up.

"You should not be up." Helena was almost afraid to get any closer. She looked so fragile, each step had to cause great pain.

"I'm up, c'mere." Cosima wouldn't have missed this moment for the world. Their sisterhood had blossomed another member, and she was accepting with open arms. Helena was one of them. She slowly broke from the hug, keeping her hands on Helena's arms. "You're very beautiful."

"Thank you." Helena had been called many things in her lifetime. Monster. Worthless. Abomination. Certainly never beautiful. Here was this woman she had never met, who she had once been ordered to kill, embracing her unconditionally. How could she repay the compliment? "I like your hairs."

"I like your hairs, too." Cosima couldn't have smiled any wider. Helena was part of the Clone Club now. What a trip.

Meanwhile, Alison had stayed to the side, trying to remind herself that Helena was no longer the hooded figure hunting them down like prized elk. Felix took note. Where Cosima was giving, Alison put up a ten-foot fence. He waltzed over to her, ready to help play social Teflon for the pair.

"This is your other sister, Alison." She finally uncrossed her arms, taking a few steps in her direction. "Hello, Helena, lovely to meet you." She'd still managed to come off like she was meeting an eccentric college roommate for the first time.

"Pleased to meet you too." Helena politely shook her hand. Cosima couldn't help but laugh at the exchange as she took a seat on the arm of Sarah's couch. They were both trying so hard. It was adorable to watch. "You are married?" Helena noted the ring. A marriage, a family, a happily ever after, this was something real she could have with the Proletheans out of the picture.

"Yes, oh yes, very much so. To Donnie." Alison glanced at the ring, letting a smile peek through. After months of game-playing and suspicions, she finally proud to say it out loud.

"I will be married too, someday." Married, with many babies to chase around the house. Jesse was a strong man with a good job, they would make a wonderful life together soon.

"Well, it's very rewarding if you can get through the rough patches." Those same few months ago, Alison never thought she'd find common ground with her former would-be killer.

"Auntie Helena!" Kira emerged from her sleepy hideaway in the loft. Helena pulled her up in the sweetest hug, slowly bringing her back down to ground level. Her sweet little angel. They had not harmed her, and for that she was relieved.

"We thought you ran away from us."

"I came back to see your little face. I'm so happy to see you, I'm going to eat your finger." Helena could not remember the last time she felt this kind of joy. She was with all of her sestras, in a room brimming with love. The others couldn't help but smile as they looked on. Helena really was good with children, who would've thought it?

"She alright?" Felix leaned into Sarah.

"Yeah." She marveled at the pair. She was going to be just fine. Clone Club was complete, and together, they'd find a way through this bloody mess.

"I'll make us some tea." He gave her shoulders a squeeze before shuffling along to the kitchen, as the sisters settled in together around the coffee table.

"I'm good, it's okay." Cosima declined Alison's proffered hand while she lowered herself back to the couch.

"You are not well." Helena had phrased it more as an observation than a question. She couldn't help it, her sestra was sick, and she had protective instincts.

"I've had better days." Cosima tried to stuff the cough in her shoulder. She couldn't separate herself from her fate much longer, but, Helena was part of the club now. This was as much her concern as any of them. "It's a, uh, disease somewhere in our DNA that some of us have gotten." And if they'd had just a few more hours with Ethan, she'd have a much better explanation for all of them. She fumbled with the string on her pants, keeping her hands occupied. "Just lucky, I guess."

"And bloody brilliant enough to find a way to cure it." Sarah cut in. She was going to tell Cosima as many times as she needed to hear it.

"Yeah, thanks mom." Cosima managed a smile as Felix came back around with steaming mugs for them.

"Cream and sugar's on the table. If you want honey, you'll have to go 'round the corner to buy it." Felix squeezed into an empty spot on the couch. "Teddy used up the last of it the other night." He casually sipped from his cup.

"Wait, who's Teddy?" Alison asked, feeling behind the times again.

"No one remotely related to DYAD or clones, relax." Sarah couldn't help but roll her eyes, laughing.

"Lucky little bastard." Cosima smirked. Though she was thrilled by her lifelong quest for knowledge, there was a small part of her that wished she could be in the dark about what was coming for her. "You and Donnie doing okay?" She deflected to Alison. Anything to take the spotlight away from her impending doom, and the pity that already preceded it.

"Much better, actually." She didn't dare spill the real details. As she'd said before, every marriage had its secrets. "Sometimes you find you have much more in common than you think."

"Donnie, he is handsome man?" Helena took a stab at the group's small talk. The sestras had their standards after all.

"In his own way…" Alison looked off for a moment, trying to avoid the inevitable sass from Felix. Their relationship was still under repair, but she was finally coming to appreciate what he brought to the table. "He's kind, he's loyal, I'm lucky to have a beautiful family with him."

"You have a family?" It was all so intriguing to Helena.

"Oh yes, two kids." Alison's fortress had long since collapsed, and she found herself digging a photo out of her wallet. "We adopted them when they were just babies."

Helena examined the photo carefully. A mother and father with adoring children, it was the life she wanted so very badly. She could probably do without the matching cardigans, though. "They are cute children."

Meanwhile, Cosima had walked across the room, examining Felix's record collection. All the talk of significant others made her miss that certain someone, who was currently being taken thousands of miles away at Rachel's behest. "Hey Felix, where do you hide the good stuff?" She teased, flipping through the vinyls in his box.

"I keep the West Coast rubbish on the shelf." He waved a casual hand towards the stack on the wall while pouring a short glass of bourbon for himself.

"Nice." She ran her fingers past the album covers, finally finding the proper soundtrack for the occasion. She flipped the record in her hands, setting it down on the turntable.  _Fuck it_. She thought, peeling off the nasal cannula. If she was with her sisters, she was damn well going to have a good time with them.

No DYAD, no experiments, for a few wonderful minutes, they were just sisters having a great time enjoying each other's company. Sarah crashed on the couch. When was the last time she felt this kind of happiness? "Must be how normal people feel."

"Yeah, man, tea and dance parties, you missed out growing up." Cosima slowly threaded the tubes back to their perch around her ears. Amazing how crummy she felt after only a few minutes without the oxygen flow. The endorphins could only keep her up for so long.

"Oh dear." Alison finally checked her phone. She hadn't told Donnie about her impromptu Clone Club meeting. Oscar and Gemma could be a handful when they joined forces. Time to head back to reality. "I better get going. Donnie doesn't do too well when he's in charge of dinner." She hated to leave, but familial obligations were calling.

"Go on, I'll take you." Felix tossed his coat over his shoulders. He wasn't about to let her wander off all alone after the day's excitement.

"There's more soup on the stove if you get hungry." Alison made sure she had everything before she left. "Be careful with Marion, try not to get thrown in a van, please." Alison had enough of that for a lifetime.

"Can't say I'd be surprised." Sarah smirked as the pair headed for the door. "Be safe, yeah? I'll call you tomorrow."

"Make sure Cosima eats!" Alison called back as they walked out.

"Sure thing." Cosima smiled a little, burying herself deeper in the couch cushions. Good lord, was that comfortable.

Kira crawled her way down to Sarah's lap. She had a feeling her mom and her auntie could use some alone time. "Gettin' tired, monkey?" Sarah brushed a stray lock from Kira's face. "It's a bit past your bedtime."

"Can Auntie Helena read me a story?" She asked through a yawn.

"That's up to Auntie Helena." She smiled, looking to her twin across the room.

"Of course, angel." Helena held out her hand, leading Kira up to the loft, and Sarah alone with Cosima.

"I'm so glad she came." Cosima stared at the pair dreamily while they walked off.

"Yeah, me too." Helena didn't have to feel alone anymore. She had a family and a home to call her own.

"Didn't think she had those dance moves in her."

"Didn't think you did, either." Sarah was still pretty amazed how Cosima could just let loose like that.

"Dying people can surprise you like that sometimes." Cosima knew the studies. There were plenty of scientific accounts of having that one last surge before a patient passed. She was starting to worry that their little soiree was hers.

"Hey…" Sarah took pause. The D word hadn't been dropped so casually before. God, why did Cosima insist on being so strong all the time? "We just need a little more time—"

Before Sarah could finish, Cosima erupted in a coughing fit, fighting to breathe between hacks as the warm blood splattered her hands.

"Alright, Cos." Sarah's heart sank. This was really happening. She grabbed a spare dish towel from the coffee table, offering it up for Cosima's next round of lung mayhem. She cradled her just as she did Kira, when she had that nasty bout of the flu. "S'alright." She rubbed her back as the storm quelled. Marion better have some answers, and fast.

"Sorry." She'd practically said it at a whisper. She couldn't help but feel it was the beginning of the end. They had no cure, and no real plan. It was just more logical to stop fighting the notion of death.

"Did I miss the French braiding?" Felix slid the slab of a door behind him. He dropped the sarcastic grin once he read the room. Things had morphed quite a bit in the short time he was away. He didn't know what he could do to help, but he scurried to the couch to give it a try.

"Let's get you to bed, yeah?" Sarah offered softly. She'd had an exhausting day, and her body just wasn't having any more of it. It didn't take a PhD candidate to see that much.

"Long as I get a story too." She cracked the smallest of smiles once the coughing subsided.

"I'll tell you the one about the Banker and the Rent Boy." Felix tried his hardest to mask his fear while he and Sarah helped her up. They weren't ready for her to be this sick yet.

"Mmm, kinky." She winced. It was much more of a struggle to make the short journey than she wanted it to be.

"Nice 'n easy, Cos." They set her down gently. Felix fluffed the pillows and Sarah helped her under the covers.

"Great service, is the tip included in the bill?" Cosima let her head fall back on the pillow.

"Cheeky." Sarah let a small smile loose as she settled in next to her.

"I'll be on the couch, two sheets to the wind if you need me." Felix took his leave, letting the sisters have their well-earned rest. He needed to half the bottle to get over this day.

"Night Felix, thanks." Cosima locked eyes with him on his way out, as if the connection could spring loose all the gratitude she had to give for the part he played in getting her home to her sisters.

"Getcha sleep, geek." Sarah rested in the space beside her. "Long day, you earned it."

"No shit." Her heavy eyelids finally came to rest. The battle with her biology would have to wait till morning.

Sarah kept her vigil, watching her chest rise with each struggling breath. Stay alive. Please, stay alive.


	7. Chapter 7

Cosima barely got a wink of sleep. Despite her body slowing to a crawl, her mind raced, calculating the possibilities that allowed her the most time. A gene therapy could take months. It wasn't impossible, but it was infinitely harder without the marrow. She couldn't ask Sarah to let Kira make that kind of sacrifice again. She wouldn't allow it.

Each breath was slow, and deliberate, as though she were maintaining the façade of control over her rebelling body. Sarah could practically hear the wheels spinning beside her. She turned over to find her staring at the ceiling dreamily.  

"Hey." Cosima snapped out of her daze.

"What were you thinking about?" Thoughts and feelings weren't the usual conversation fodder for Sarah, but this was a special case. Her sister was chugging on borrowed time, she yearned for every thought in that beautiful, intelligent, resourceful brain of hers.

 _Just my inevitable death_. No, Cosima couldn't tell her the truth. It had to be something random, geeky even, enough to keep her from heaping on to her worry pile. "Oh, Buckminster Fuller, and sacred geometry." She rolled up her sleeve, showing off her nautilus tattoo. "See this? It's called the golden ratio." She traced the outline slowly, lingering on the thick, brushed curves. "and it's this mathematical pattern that just repeats itself in nature, in flower petals, in honeybees, all the stars in the galaxy, and every molecule of our DNA."  

Sarah couldn't take her eyes off of her.  Her gestures may have been muted by the progression of the disease, but the enthusiasm for sharing her gift was so radiant.  Few people could make a concept she'd slept through in school so enthralling. She was beyond brilliant, and she was slowly slipping away. "God, we're so different, all of us." It made her wonder just how many 'us-es' there were. A scientist, a soccer mom, a man on the run. How could they keep all of them safe? "I don't even know how to look at art. Don't tell Fe." She deflected with a glint of humor.

Cosima held out her hand, magnetically drawing Sarah's to it. "You're the wild type, Sarah." Their fingers laced together, Sarah sending every morsel of energy she could. "You propagate against all odds. Y'know? You're restless, you survive." Sarah needed her full blown support, but she'd never want to ask.

"I can't do this without you, Cosima." She couldn't hold the tears in any longer. It wasn't about the science anymore. She'd spent years trying to isolate herself, trying to keep her family safe, and then suddenly, her family grew. How could she find a way to carry on if she lost her sister?

"You'll be fine." Her tears were heartbreaking. No matter the corner she found herself painted, she found a way out. Whether she had to pose as another person, or literally break through a wall. She was stronger than she'd ever take credit for. She could be anything, or anyone. Sarah had the keys now. Cosima needed her to believe she knew how to use them.  She was accepting her fate, and she needed Sarah to do the same.  

"Yeah." Easy to say it when you're not the one left behind.  Cosima had accepted her with unconditional love, an exquisite rarity in Sarah's life.  She'd wished she could take back their more turbulent moments, but she realized the petty, bickering differences were so normalizing.  They fought as sisters so often do.  It's the moments after that make the relationship.  She was going to miss her so, so much.    

"You just have to keep moving forward." Without her. The science told Cosima she was staring down the end, and wasn't afraid anymore. She was so used to being the knowledge keeper, a fountain of answers, but she'd hit an impenetrable barrier. But here, she was taking a stand. She refused to be Jennifer Fitzsimmons. She wouldn't let herself waste away, bald and gasping, while scientists poked her with sticks. She just wished she'd uncovered more of the science. She loved Sarah too much to leave her unprepared.

"Forward through the looking glass with Marion Bloody Bowles." A mysterious woman in an obscure position of power, holding what seemed to be vital intelligence on all of their origins.

"What could go wrong?" Her lips curled in a lazy smile.

"Don't suppose there's a dungeon they can throw me in." She joked, brushing away the tears.

"Slay a dragon, whatever." Her eyelids were feeling heavy again. She needed to do better at conserving her energy.

"Get some rest this time, yeah?" Sarah tried to pull herself together. Cal was on his way. "'Cause I don't know what I'm about to find out, but I know I'm gonna have a pissload of questions to ask you when I'm done." There was no one else she could trust to give her the unfiltered truth.

"Have fun storming the castle." Cosima gave her hand a weak squeeze before slowly slipping back in slumber. Sarah reached over, gently sliding off her glasses. Just a little longer, Cos.

* * *

Meanwhile, Helena slowly stirred, trying not to wake the rest of the apartment. She was grateful to have met her other sestras, but there was someone else on her mind. She held the beaten trucker had close to her chest. Jesse was still waiting for her. She would see him again, and he would meet her family, and they would live happily ever after. Just like in Kira's bedtime stories.

She pulled the heavy tank out of her knapsack. Her babies would be safe here until she returned. She slipped through the door without a sound, taking in the lingering musk on Jesse's hat. Soon she would be reunited with her love. Then suddenly, darkness. Hands grabbing at her shoulders, a shock, then nothing. Not again.

* * *

For the first time in ages, Cosima felt peace. She'd spent so much time feeling angry at Delphine for making deals with her health without her knowledge. The deep-seated rage had blinded her from seeing her true motives. Delphine wanted her to live so badly, she was willing to sacrifice their relationship for a cure.

 _Don't be afraid. I'll never leave you._ The hand on her cheek felt so warm, so inviting. She missed feeling Delphine's touch. Those smooth, manicured hands, miraculously unscathed by years of lab gloves and chemicals. She'd teased her for stocking a supply of French creams and lotions with unpronounceable names, but now, she'd give anything to have her back from her 4,000-mile trek to Frankfurt. She was just as lost without Delphine, as Sarah was without her.

"Auntie cosima!" Her eyes finally fluttered open, revealing a very relieved Kira.

Just a dream, nothing more.

* * *

"Ali? The kids are at your mother's for the weekend, what's with the feast?" Donnie asked after sampling a spoonful of the sauce on the stove. It's not like he was complaining, though.

"Not for you." She whacked his hand with a spatula without even looking. "Sarah's been a little too busy to cook, so I told her I'd help." She sliced through vegetables with ninja precision. "And Cosima's not doing well, so…"

"Oh…" The news took Donnie by surprise. It was one aspect of the Clone Club life she'd neglected to share with him. "Anything I can um, do?" His trip to DYAD wasn't quite fruitful, Rachel turned the tables on him before he could realize what hit him. He dipped a spoon in the skillet, giving the contents a stir.

"Yes, don't crowd the mushrooms." Maybe Alison wasn't ready to spill her feelings just yet. Instead, she chose to stuff them down, channeling her fear into the only way she felt she could help. If making dinner and keeping watch over the apartment was how she could contribute, then so be it. This was the role she could play to keep her sister alive, and she would not shrink away.

* * *

The Island of Dr. Moreau. Man, did that take Cosima back. She was barely older than Kira when she read the same chapters by nighttime flashlight. She flipped open the cover, revealing a labyrinth of diagrams and notes. Words boxed. Molecules. Amino acid sequences. "Where did you get this book?"

"Professor Duncan gave it to me for a present." Cosima flipped through the pages even faster. Holy fucking eureka. He wrote it all down and left it right under their noses.

"You're right, Kira, this book is very, very special." She flashed that warm, brilliant smile. More than that. This book could literally save her life. Suddenly, she had hope. But, she couldn't crack this alone. "Um, hey, Felix?"

"I told you I'd bring breakfast when it was ready." He waltzed in, clad in his apron and oven mitts. "Everythin' alright?" His tone warmed, seeing the pair in bed. They were peas in a nerdy little pod. After growing up so lonely, she had a new flock of Aunties to smother her with love.

"Yeah, yeah, we're good." But, she'd be better if she spread the news to the only person left who could help them. If Scott really was still safe at the DYAD, he could get a head start. "Can you bring my laptop over?"

"So demanding." He left with a sarcastic grin, quickly retrieving it. "More research on Marion?" He wondered what brought on the urgency.

She shook her head, typing away, her fingers trying to keep up with her brain. "No, look." She picked up the book again, revealing the cryptic notes in the pages. This was their new lifeline. "It's Ethan's."

"Ho-ly fu…dge muffins." He struggled to censor himself around Kira. A real breakthrough. It was no bone marrow transplant, but it had to help, right? With all this clone business he was starting to wish he'd paid a little more attention in his science classes instead of doodling his teachers in the margins.

"Yeah." Cosima's sentiments, exactly. "Scott already knows how to decrypt some of this stuff, maybe he can find something here." She was back to the brink of a real treatment, thanks to Kira and her special book. "Good job, little scientist." She gave her a squeeze in her one-armed hug, beaming proudly, grateful that Ethan could recognize her genius. With any luck, Sarah would be back to pile on the good news.

Her Skype alert went off, showing a blocked number. She clicked it quickly, hoping it was Sarah with some sort of update from Marion's lair. Instead, she was floored by the familiar French lilt.

"Cosima?"


	8. Chapter 8

Cosima covered her mouth with her hand. She'd let herself fear the absolute worst. People on DYAD planes had a terrible track record. "Oh my God!"

Delphine touched her hand to the monitor. She'd snuck her laptop into the lab after hours to steal a moment of WiFi before she could be caught. Cosima was still alive, but just barely, by the looks of things. She longed to reach through the screen to brush aside the tears welling in her lined eyes. "I don't have much time, but I had to see you, Cosima, I'm so sorry."

"No, no, hey." Cosima didn't want to spiral into an apology-fest, not yet, at least. "Are you safe? Where did they take you?" The good news was, it didn't look like she'd been harmed.

"Frankfurt, she was telling the truth. A military base, I think." At least it seemed that way. Battle-dressed soldiers greeted her on the tarmac when they'd landed, before she was whisked away to the fortress-like building compound. She couldn't take her eyes off Cosima. She got on a plane she feared she would never leave alive, never having the chance to say goodbye to the woman she'd somehow managed to fall deeply in love with against a barrage of obstacles. She wanted to use every second to take in that face. That face that seemed much paler and hollow since the last time she'd seen her in person. It was worrisome. "Are you feeling side effects from the treatment?"

Of course she didn't know, she was on a plane the whole time. "You kinda missed a lot while you were up there." She dabbed away the tears. Delphine kept looking over her shoulder. It was only a matter of minutes before she'd have to leave to avoid security. Cosima was going to have to give her the Cliff Notes version. The rest would have to come when time was back on their side. "We got Kira back, but uh, there wasn't a treatment, and Ethan, he's gone." That was putting it gently.

Delphine's mouth hung agape for a moment while the blow landed. She definitely missed a lot. Rachel.  _Merde_. The urgency to find a cure was ramped to eleven, and the man who could help them was no longer around. Worst of all, Cosima needed her doctor back, and she was thousands of miles away. "We…we'll keep working, maybe if we can somehow get into the files…"

"You didn't let me get to the good news." Cosima reached for the book, turning to a marked up page. Delphine squinted at the screen, making out a few of the acronyms.

"Where did you get that?"

"Ethan left it for us." She thumbed through a few more pages, pausing to trace a diagram with her finger. "He sketched it out in a book no one would think twice about opening, it's-it's so freakin' genius."

God, how she missed those hands. She loved how they flew higher the more excited Cosima felt. She caught a glint from a flashlight coming down the hall. "Cosima, I have to go." If she had her way, she'd talk through the night, planning their next move. "I will call you again when I find a secure way to reach you. Please, just wait for my call." She didn't need Cosima's safety to be compromised on top of every other crisis they were wading through. She kissed her hand, touching it to the screen. " _Je t'aime."_ The window flicked to black. Just like that, she was gone again with an uncertain return.

* * *

"Against all odds, you found your sisters, and you fought for your own. Now, I'm counting on that fierce loyalty, because what I'm about to share with you can put me at grave personal risk. " Marion had certainly delivered on her promise for answers. One more clone, 400 attempts in the making. DYAD found a way to carry on without Ethan after all. Marion was invested, alright, but Sarah still had her lingering doubts. She'd taken betrayal from all sides, and Cosima didn't have time for a dead end.

"I just met my 8-year old sister, and you're tellin' me there's more?" It was a long way down the rabbit hole, and Sarah was coming up with a far more questions than answers. She ran her hand through her hair while she calculated her next move. It was time to fight harder. "If you want my loyalty, Marion, I need you to bring back Delphine. She's the only one left who can help Cosima." It was her only bargaining chip, and she would not hesitate to use it on her dying sister. She had to look beyond her past betrayals; selling them out to Leekie, hijacking Kira's cells, and remember she did it all to help her. Cosima needed Delphine to live, and Sarah wouldn't settle for any less.

Marion bet on the right horse. That unwavering allegiance was going to be absolutely vital. But first, she had to break the bad news. "Unfortunately, Delphine's reassignment was Rachel's doing. It will be difficult for me to reverse it without drawing suspicion." She shot down the proposal immediately. She didn't approve of Rachel's actions, but she was going to have to work overtime to cover her tracks in this affair enough as it was. "I'll bring her back as soon as I can, but I assure you were have our very best working on a treatment for Cosima." Her brilliant mind was a potential resource for their cause, but they had to cure her first.

"Your very best, like Dr. Nealon?" His was a name she would not soon forget.

"Dr. Leekie may be gone, but the Neolutionist virus plaguing DYAD seem determined to keep his memory alive." It was one of the many crises Marion had to juggle in her position. "There are still good people here, Sarah, and they want to help. Just like you."

"Yeah? Well right now'd be a good time to show it."

"We've only just begun, Sarah." She rose from the table, beckoning Sarah to follow.

"I still don't understand, I thought Topside was in charge of the whole ruddy operation." The battle to get just one rung above DYAD was hard enough.

"You won't find Topside in any company directory, we steer the DYAD group, with many other multi-nationals." Working in the shadows made it easier to manipulate their enemies. Marion would keep that to herself, for now.

"You're a Cabal." Terrific. A secret organization running a secret experiment with secret motives.

"Yes. Securing monopolies on a future that embraces genetic engineering, synthetic biology, a future that I passionately believe is inevitable"

"And if you don't profit, someone else will." Money, of course. The windfall from patents, the inevitable book, or movie or whatever, of course it was the root of their cause.

"Yes. But it's not only about profit. There are other forces at work, Sarah. I had evidence of another agenda, but I couldn't verify it without your mother's help." This was the crucial moment for Marion. If that wasn't enough to keep Sarah on her side, then she was as good as lost.

Mrs. S. It definitely got Sarah's attention. What the hell did she get her in this time? She followed Marion down the next flight of stairs.

"The military never shut down Project LEDA. It was compartmentalized into two autonomous programs. While DYAD carried the females to term, the military carried the males. This is project Castor."

Males. More clones, this whole time? Sarah approached the door carefully. Several inches of ballistic glass between her, and the back of the so-called Castor clone. She noticed the bullet holes, as he grunted through a pull-up, and turned to face the pair. Holy shite. "I know him."

"You do?" Marion raised an eyebrow. Perhaps she would learn something today as well.

"Not-not  _him_." She shook her head. "A Prolethean. He tried to come after me." She shook off the memory of that harrowing night in the diner. "He knew about Kira." How a clone found himself in the middle of a clone-curious cult was rather troubling.

"Then you understand the urgency of the matter, Sarah." There were two competing forces at loggerheads. Sarah took off down the hall. She couldn't look at the captive clone any longer. "You can't run from this." Her hushed tone echoed off the stark white walls.

"Just give me a bloody minute." She reached for her phone. She had to tell Cosima. She would know how to handle this bombshell. After their talk that morning, Sarah was just terrified she wouldn't be around long enough to help.

* * *

"It's still goin' to voicemail." Felix hung up his Clone Phone for the umpteenth time.

"We have to keep trying, if Sarah's with Marion she—" Cosima cut herself off with another coughing fit. "She can use it." She finished, wiping a spot of blood from the corner of her mouth. Cosima wanted to leverage their new information as quickly as possible. She'd already sent Scott a few snapshots, but perhaps Marion's position could speed things along.

"Cosima…" He was interrupted by a rapid knock at the door. Alison.

"Sorry I'm late, Donnie had to get the kids to school." Alison balanced a few trays on her forearms.

"I have a stove, you know." Felix shut the door behind her.

"Yes, you use it for your sweaters." She set the trays on the counter, moving to make space in the refrigerator while Felix peeked at the contents.

"Alison!" He peeled back the foil. "Pot brownies? Really?"

"Many studies suggest they help build an appetite and give pain relief." Two things Cosima desperately needed, even if she refused to acknowledge the need for help.

"Just checked the pharmaceuticals section of  _The Joy of Cooking_ , then?" Dire circumstances or none, Felix wouldn't miss the opportunity to rib her a little.

"I found the recipe on the internet, and got my…supplies from Ramon."

Felix took a nibble, and was impressed with the results. "Right, I'll be needing his card, then."

"Those are for Cosima." Alison batted his hand with a spatula. "Where's Helena?" She noted the Ukranian's sudden absence.

"Gone." Felix shrugged. "Must've left this mornin', too much sisterhood to handle. She'd be bloody pissed she missed the food." His eyes wandered to Cosima, slowly trudging her way across the loft to the couch. "Oi, what part of rest did you not understand?"

"That was before we found the cipher." Cosima's breaths drew slower, more deliberate. The short trip felt like a thousand-mile march. "Hear anything from Sarah?" She looked to Alison, hoping at least one of them could make contact.

"Not since last night." She shook her head, preparing a plate for Cosima. "Wait, what about the Cipher?" she quickly held up her hands. "I don't want to know." Plausible deniability. She had to assume DYAD was watching them at all times. Worst-case scenario, she didn't want to have important information that could be squelched out of her. Call it paranoia, she just wanted to keep her sisters safe.

Cosima was too busy typing away at her laptop, sending samples of their hopeful cipher to Scott for analysis. She had the solution in her hands, but no idea how to use them. It was beyond frustrating for someone so used to having all the answers. Her phone buzzed to life beside her. "Sarah? Are you okay?"

Sarah jammed her finger in her ear, trying to overcome the weak reception. "Cos, there's a whole bloody rabbit hole" She was trying to find the words, but they just wouldn't come out.

"Okay, okay, just slow down, dude, what happened?"

"Male. Clones. Cosima."


	9. Chapter 9

"You're absolutely positive that's what she said?" Felix was floored.

"Think my ears are the only thing left that work." Cosima confirmed. A whole other freakin' project. Just what they needed on top of the mountain of information they'd swallowed over the last two days.

"Next thing you know they'll be releasing a bloody unicorn into the wild." Felix started to take over Alison's pacing duties, while she leaned over the kitchen sink. They were lab rats in an experiment, and they were not alone.

"Okay, Scott still has the encrypted sequence. If he can make sense of some of this stuff in the book, we'll be in a much better place than we were yesterday." The coughs were coming harder now, and even more frequent. Every minute she spent sitting upright started to feel like an uphill battle.

"We should get you back to bed, Cosima." Alison gently suggested. Bearing witness to her battle was getting too heart wrenching to stomach. The coughs shook her body so violently, she worried each would be her last. Cosima soldiered on, wheezing and gasping, then typing away at her keyboard with trembling hands, trying to pretend it didn't happen.

"Sarah'll be back soon, we have to tell her about Delphine and the cipher." Even with so much to do, she couldn't ignore the fatigue overpowering her body. Dr. Moreau. Male clones. Castor. It was overwhelming.

"She's in McMansionland, it'll take her a bit. Grab yourself some shut-eye, and we'll wake you when she gets in." Felix crossed his arms. "Don't make me treat you like a client." He hid his fear with his signature sass.

"Bet Alison would love to watch." She sank back into the couch cushions, letting the painful spasms run their course. Her body seemed to side with Felix and Alison. Maybe just a few minutes wouldn't hurt.

"Right, down you go." Felix unfurled a blanket, draping it over her while Alison tucked in the corners, hovering around like a bee to pollen.

"That's what she said." Cosima mumbled, finally letting the drowsiness take over.

"Cheeky." Felix retreated to his barstool, as Alison stood watch, restlessly tapping her fingers against the coffee mug cradled in her hands.

"Is it me, or is this whole thing happening really, really fast?" She whispered, observing the slumbering Cosima from afar. Before the Leekie incident, everything seemed quasi-controlled. Now, her sister was on the ropes with a disease that could very well be lurking in her own DNA.

"Like a bloody freight train." The stained tissues littering his apartment grew more numerous each day.

"All this time she was working for them, and they just-just let her get sicker and sicker, dangling treatments over her like a carrot." As she always said, lab rats in an illegal experiment. She took her gun out of her waistband, setting it on the soiled countertop, poised for action, should someone come and threaten her family.

"Think they would've come for us by now." He nodded to the gleaming weapon pointed towards the door. They were a soccer mom, a rent boy, and a dying scientist, in a loft without a proper lock, they were hardly tough targets.

"They wouldn't have to." The thought hadn't escaped her. They were up to something over there, something that kept them too busy to care about two of their lab rats leaving. Alison's eyes darted between Cosima and the clock on the wall. Sarah needed to return with answers soon. Her fingers calmly circled the rim of her mug. "Felix, they still have my contract." She'd already signed her life away, there was nothing to stop them from barging in and carting her away.

"I thought the whole point of the contract was they promised to bugger off." Felix's head tilted slightly, a quizzical look taking over. It was supposed to be the only upside to getting in bed with them.

"Well, they promised they'd keep us safe, too." Fat load of good they were doing for Cosima. "Aren't exactly people of their word." She folded her arms, keeping one hand held aloft.

The paranoia storm was brewing, and Felix knew how quickly she could jump to conclusions. "It's a different game now, we've got a mysterious lady on the inside, and they still got Donnie as your monitor, right?"

"Right." She stewed

"So just….lay low." Felix shrugged, trying to pull another vaguely encouraging thought from the deep reaches of his mind.. "You're the suburban housewife, what sort of trouble do they think you're getting into?" His attention snapped to the door, hearing a knock.

"It's just me, Fe." Sarah tapped knocked again, shifting her weight from side to side as she waited impatiently for the door to slide open. She had too much information, and very little time to act on it. "A whole other batch, I can't—"

"Oi, quiet, Cosima's resting." Felix gently guided the door back in place

"She alright?" Of course she wasn't, but after their talk that morning, her concerns were perfectly valid.

Felix didn't have to say anything, the coughs punctuating Cosima's steady wheeze were answers enough.

"Marion said she'd send someone with supplies, hopin' they'd be here by now." Cosima had stayed quiet about how she was feeling, but try as she might, she couldn't hide the little grimaces that came with each coughing fit. She had to be in pain.

Sarah shrugged off her coat, dangling it from the top hook. She noticed one was missing. "Helena take off?" Her eyes caught the silver canister waiting beneath.

"We think she went to see that Jesse fellow she was talking about." Alison poured her a hot mug of tea. She wouldn't have pegged Helena as a romantic, but whoever this guy was, she was fond of him. Even the Hunter had a giddy schoolgirl inside.

"Think she earned a little time to herself.". Sarah squatted closer to the ground to get a closer look. 'Biological Materials' couldn't be less specific. She wracked her brain, trying to remember if Helena had said anything about the contents. "Get any more news from the gawky bloke at DYAD?"

"No, but we got a call from Delphine." Felix offered up a nugget of good news they'd gotten. "In Frankfurt, for real."

"Finally." She plopped on a stool beside the pair. "Don't 'spose she's any closer to a cure than we are." She'd take any drop of information the scientist had to offer.

"I don't think so, we got the cipher." Cosima dropped the book on the counter, sneaking up on the group. She'd have plenty of time to rest on the couch once they cracked the secrets within.

"He wrote it down." She'd lied to Rachel after all. She picked up the tattered tome. It seemed so ordinary. Brilliant for hiding a secret in plain sight. She looked back to Cosima, turning down Felix's seat, standing tall defiantly.

"Yeah, Scott's trying to see if there's a pattern with the sequence we already know." Cosima squeezed her laptop in on the crowded countertop.

Meanwhile, Scott stood outside the door slab, rapping on the surface with one hand, while holding the bag of supplies Marion had entrusted to him. IV tubing, medications, she swore it would help.

Alison silently excused herself to tend to the noise, gun in hand, waiting to fend off an unanticipated visitor. She opened the door a sliver to get a good look at him. Tall and dorky, she liked her odds. "Who are you?" She poked the gun barrel in the space.

"Whoa." He was caught off guard by the appearance of a new identical. "Um Scott, Cosima's lab tech, I have some stuff to help her." He spouted the information as fast as his mouth would allow as he held up the bag. Alison narrowed her eyes, and he tried to think of something that would win her over. "I helped put the pencil in Rachel's eye." He whispered. Alison opened the door wider, letting him slip inside.

"Rachel smashed your bone marrow vials to bits over this information, are you sure we should be sharing it with people at DYAD?" Sarah furrowed her brow. True, she fought for Delphine's return to the states, but she also witnessed Rachel's tantrum firsthand. Even with Marion on their side, she had a hard time putting her trust in anyone under DYAD's roof.

"I don't have a choice, Sarah." Cosima leaned on the oxygen tank a little harder, starting to get worked up. "Scott and Delphine risked everything to get the two of us out of there." Her voice shook as her body started to tremble, her weak frame unable to contain the erupting rage. Neither of them had noticed Scott had even entered the room.

"Cos, if it gets in the wrong hands, DYAD could use it against us, against you." Sarah tried appealing to Cosima's logical side. She was as good as dead if they managed to maim this information in the same way as the marrow. She was caught off guard, she had never seen her get this angry before. "This is our last chance at a cure."

"And you need to trust me when I say they can find it." Scott was her right-hand man from the start, and Delphine…well, it was high time she stood up for the woman she loved. "I'm the freakin' science. It's my biology, it's my decision!" She roared with a guttural energy she hadn't shown in weeks. Her heart was pounding in her ears.

"I'm not letting you kill yourself to prove a bloody point!" Sarah rose, her own anger finally spewing loose. In her mind, they needed Delphine back on North American soil, and Scott out of the belly of the beast before they could share such sensitive information.

"Without them, I'm already dead!—" Her body lurched forward, propelled by a coughing ambush, splattering blood on Sarah as she struggled to keep her upright.

"Cosima….Cosima!" Sarah's eyes widened in horror as they both crumpled to the floor. God, why wouldn't she stop shaking? Felix held Alison back, her hands covering her mouth. Scott swooped in, opening the bag of goodies in his care. It was the same scene he saw unfold in the lab with Ethan. Now was definitely a good time to finally make his presence known to the rest of the room.

Sarah went on the defense, seeing the strange hands. "Oi, don't you bloody touch-" Sarah cut herself off when she recognized the man who helped her escape.

"Just help me keep her arm still." He calmly drew up the sedative, just as the doctor had showed him. Sarah averted her eyes while he slid the needle into Cosima's vein. She wanted to take everything she said back. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if her last conversation with Cosima was a shouting match.

"It's working." Scott let out a relieved sigh as the seizing subsided. "Um, help me get her to the couch?"

Felix bolted in to assist, and the trio gently laid her down. "What the hell was that?" Felix asked.

"Seizure, I think. It can happen with kidney failure." Scott went back into the bag of tricks while Sarah stayed plastered to Cosima's side, barely acknowledging the still-warm blood angrily streaked on her. "When's she wakin' up?" She finally found her words.

"A little while." He wasn't the doctor, he couldn't give her a concrete answer. "Her system needs a bit to reset after all that."

All that. Sarah was already crushed by the guilt. She laced her fingers in Cosima's limp hand, wishing she hadn't been blinded by fear. She let her anger get the best of her, and it pushed her sister away.

"We should get you cleaned up." Alison offered softly, gently pulling Cosima's glasses off for safekeeping.

"I'm fine." Sarah was staying put. She needed to be there when Cosima woke up. She needed to apologize. To tell her she was right, and she trusted Scott and Delphine with all her heart if Cosima did too.

Scott silently worked around her, sliding in the IV line, and squeezing a bag of saline in place. He stole a glance at the silver container left against the wall. "Can I ask what's with the liquid nitrogen tank?"

"Hopin' you might have an answer to that." Felix crossed his arms, hugging his own body tight as he watched Sarah sink into her daze.

"Couldn't hurt to try." He snapped off his latex gloves, and studied the canister intently. "Let's see…" He muttered, popping the lid open. "Wow, um, where did you get these?" He held the vials up to the light to see the labels better, and his eyes lit up. Real, live, egg cells. If these matched Cosima, it'd be a groundbreaking find for her treatment.

"Helena brought them, why, what is it?" Felix straightened up, intrigued by the scientist's sudden excitement.

"This is way, way better than bone marrow."


	10. Chapter 10

"Eggs." Alison repeated, as if she could be unsure of what Scott revealed. Helena too, had escaped their infertile fate. Alison would have been envious, angry, even, once upon a time. Her first diagnosis led to third, fourth, and fifth opinions. All of them agreed she would never be able to have a child on her own. If they could see her now, sitting on a rickety barstool, staring down a canister of eggs that shared her DNA.

"It's stem cells in their purest form." Scott put the precious specimens back on ice. "Could give her immune system a boost, and then some."

"Then, what are you waiting for? How do we give 'em to her?" It was a no-brainer to Felix. They had a solution to help her, and they were still sitting around, talking about it, instead of putting it to action.

"I'm a sequencing tech, I mean, that stuff's way past my credentials." He fidgeted with the latch on the canister. "I can't really do much more for her right now." He added softly. The lab was his domain. Codes, patterns and data fit more in his comfort zone. He looked to Cosima, still sedated on the couch, with Sarah right by her side.

Sarah wouldn't let go of Cosima's hand. She brushed her fingers across the creases in a steady cadence, silently pleading for those faded-lined eyes to open once more. Marion was right, Cosima needed more than Felix's dingy loft could provide. Her hand twitched back, showing signs of life for the first time since she'd hit the floor.

Cosima drowsily fluttered her lashes, trying to take a mental inventory of her current state. The taste in her mouth, the needle stuck in one arm, a warm hand gripped to the other. It happened again. "Hey." She broke the silence, groping for her glasses.

"Hi." Sarah let the tears fall freely as she unfolded the frames. "Try not to move too much, yeah? Scott had a hard enough time gettin' that needle in once."

The room came back into focus as she slid the frames on. Scott  _was_  there. Sarah decided to trust him after all. Her eyes followed the IV line to the bag balancing on the edge of the couch above, and back to Sarah, covered in a startling amount of blood. Man, was that all hers?

"Cos, I…"Sarah wanted to spill every ounce of apology in her at once.

"We still haven't talked about Castor." Cosima threaded her fingers through Sarah's. She didn't need to hear an apology. It didn't take a scientist to see Sarah was already fraught with guilt. She'd seen that look before when Delphine knocked on her lab door after their fight. Sarah just tried to protect her the only way she knew how, and Cosima was stubborn enough to fight it off like an attack. Hindsight was always 20/20.

Castor. It was buried in the recesses of her memory after all that had happened that day. "Male clones, I wouldn't've believed it if I didn't see it myself."

"It makes sense, when you think about it." Cosima mused, her mental engines humming back to life with the opportunity to share her knowledge. "Leda bore two sets of twins, one male, and one female. Castor and Pollux were the boys, pretty badass warriors."

"And Marion said the military was running the show." It was starting to make a little more sense for Felix.

"Building a perfect solider?" Scott piped up.

"If I had to guess? Yeah." Cosima's lids fluttered. Physical fitness, mental numbness, it was ruthless, but probably effective. At least their motive was more clear than DYAD's.

Alison cleared her throat, nudging the container on the floor with her foot. Cosima's health was a little more urgent than the mythology lesson.

Right. The eggs. "Cos, Helena left somethin' behind that could help you." Sarah floated the notion cautiously. Their fight was a none-too-subtle reminder of how unkindly Cosima took to unsolicited advice. She looked to Scott for a little backup.

"Um, unfertilized eggs. Like, a lot of them." He elaborated. "But, if we want to get a stem cell line out of them, we need a lab." He tented his fingers nervously.

"Marion's got a room all picked out for you." Sarah added quietly. It was entirely hypocritical of her after what she'd said about Scott and Delphine.

"Whoa, no. No way." Cosima shook her head, straightening up on the couch. It was unexpected after Sarah had chided her for sharing the cipher pages. She wasn't going to let herself get mad again. There was no time to be angry.

"We can't help you here, Cosima." Sarah rubbed her temples, trying to keep from erupting again. She was ashamed to make the about-face on her feelings on DYAD, but seeing Cosima take such a quick turn changed everything. The IVs and the oxygen were just a poor stopgap. It was no match for the real medical care she desperately needed. She'd learned the scary truth in her file, and she couldn't stand idly by. "And I know, I know it's your decision, but I can't let you die over this when there's a treatment staring us in the face."

"They kidnapped your daughter. They tried to take your ovary." The scientist in her knew Sarah was right. Breaths were harder and harder to salvage. Every inch of her body ached. Felix's loft was no place for a woman in her condition. Still, returning to a place they'd risked their necks to escaped was wildly counterintuitive.

"Even if we stay away, who can promise it won't happen again?" As Marion, and even Rachel told her, there were other forces at play. Who's to say some clandestine Military strike force wasn't already on their way to break down her door? As long as there were people that saw them as subjects, they were not safe. "We've got an ally this time." Marion was mysterious, but so far, she'd come through on her word.

"An ally we know nothing about." Cosima wheezed. Sarah wasn't going to let this go. She was running out of reasons to protest. She glanced down, fighting off a rising cough storm with sheer force of will. Sarah had lost her daughter and given her own body for her wellbeing. She couldn't send her back into the storm. "I can't ask for that kind of sacrifice again."

"It's not about me." Sarah coaxed her eyes back into contact, and took her hand once more, rubbing her thumb against her palm. "It's about all of us, Cos." Everyone in that room had lost a piece of themselves to this cause. She wouldn't allow it to be in vain. "Please, be bloody selfish for once."

"They're not my eggs to take." She couldn't in good conscience claim Helena's eggs for her biology without her permission. It was the kind of violation she'd clashed with Delphine against time and again. Even on death's door, she couldn't cave on her morals.

"Give yourself a chance to live long enough to apologize, then." Sarah was making her last stand. She couldn't sit there watching her sister suffer any longer. "Because I swear, Cosima, if you won't go, I'll drag you there myself."

Cosima exhaled slowly, in that way she did to cover up an oncoming cough. Sarah had drawn her line in the sand, and was sticking to it. This was her chance to make the right choice for herself. Cosima nodded softly, and the room seemed to let out a collective sigh of relief.

Sarah leaned in till their foreheads touched. "I trusted you with the science, yeah? I need you to trust me with this."

* * *

Marion's heels clacked on the linoleum floor of the sterile ward. The doctor had been waiting for her arrival. "How's our Rachel?" She asked, folding her arms as she stared through the glass window of the recovery room.

"Resting comfortably." He consulted the notes scrawled in the chart. "Eighteen hour surgery in a delicate area on a prominent member of the DYAD board. Amazing any of us survived." He quipped dryly.

"What's her prognosis?" She pursed her lips. Her superiors had their concerns.

"There wasn't anything to salvage from her retina, but she was the perfect candidate for our Oculast prosthetic." It was one of the crown jewels of their research and development collection.

"Pity to have to use it on one of our own." Marion's feigned sorrow was downright Oscar-worthy. She glanced at her vibrating phone. Cal. Hopefully Sarah was finally taking her up on her offer for Cosima. "Do call me when she wakes up." She excused herself to take the call.

* * *

"Driver's on the way." Sarah pocketed her clone phone while Alison busied herself with folding as many things for Cosima as possible. "Anything else you need?"

"Just for this crazy idea to work." Cosima backed up the latest data on her laptop for the umpteenth time. There was no room for error here. Just as she was about to clamp it closed, a Skype call popped up. She quickly clicked it open, her eyes scanning the screen impatiently for the video feed to start.

"Cosima…" The relieved Frenchwoman kept her hand to the screen, yearning for the moment she'd be able to hold her again. "I'm sorry, I can't linger, I just needed to see your face." Her lip quivered, taking her in. The IV dangling behind her was a new development.

"We're going back, Delphine." Cosima broke the news. "We might have a treatment to tide me-"

"Please, don't say any more." Delphine waved her hands in front of the camera. "This line, it isn't secure, I don't know who could be listening." She couldn't put her in more danger. She had enough frustration bubbling beneath. She couldn't ask her about her return, she couldn't tell her what they wanted from her in Frankfurt, and worst of all, she couldn't talk about her theories of the cipher. The secrecy was tearing her apart.

"Right. No, you're right." Cosima cleared her throat. "Just uh, don't worry, okay? We've got a plan." She gazed longingly into the camera. A short skype chat was no substitute for her touch on her skin.

"I…" Delphine looked off for a moment. "I have to go, there's another transport arriving."

"Yeah, go do your thing." She swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to slip on a smile.

"J'taime." She kissed her hand to the camera before it faded to black.

"Love you too." Cosima said softly. The message would find a way to its recipient somehow.

"Cos…" Sarah felt like she was intruding. It was time for them to make their move. "We gotta go."

Scott offered his hand and pulled her up. "Easy, easy, no rush." He reminded her and she steadied herself on his arms, waiting for the room to stop spinning.

"One step at a time, the car can't go anywhere without you." Alison took Cosima's bag on her shoulder as she followed behind.

"Gimme five, I'll meet you down there." Sarah closed the door behind them.

"Tell me you're not really goin' back there." Felix crossed his arms. Her last visit was anything but cordial.

"I'm not lettin' her go alone, Fee." She grabbed her leather jacket off the wall. "We're all she has, if this doesn't…." She couldn't finish the sentence. She didn't want to give it a voice, but if this plan didn't work, she wasn't going to let Cosima die alone in the Clonestitute with doctors waiting to poke and prod. "Marion made some kind of deal, they can't do anything to me, 'least not yet."

Felix knew he wasn't going to win this one. Once Sarah was invested, there was no swaying her. "If they try anything, promise me you'll get the hell out." He looked down to his shoes, tapping his heel against his ankle. "I'm not making another bloody trip to the morgue for you."

* * *

"You came highly recommended, ma'am, we're glad to have you on board. 'Bout time we had somebody who knew what in the Jesus H. Christ they were doin.'" The gruff seargant led Delphine down the maze of stairs to the hangar.

"Whatever I can do to help." She followed close behind, sticking to the old talking points on a DYAD script from once upon a time.

"Looks like the bird's landed." He leaned against the railing as the belly of the cargo plane opened wide. Several soldiers filed out, each blending into the next. Delphine didn't see the importance of this seemingly routine affair, until a different set of boots hit the ground in front of her. Her eyes scanned upwards, befuddled by every detail they absorbed, until they hit that unmistakable face. " _Merde_ "


	11. Chapter 11

Helena shuffled down the ramp, her shackled feet allowing only the smallest of steps.  Every whiff of freedom she ever had came with a new prison.  The orphanage, Tomas, The Ranch…whatever this place was…just another man telling her everything will be okay as long as she does what he says.   

 

“Wait here.” The soldier kept his gun barrel pressed between her shoulder blades as another patted her down for weapons for the umpteenth time.  Helena tensed defensively as the strange hands ran through her pockets, and down her legs.  “She’s clear.” He confirmed with a nod once his search was satisfied. 

 

“Get her processed, and take her to room C.” The Seargant signed the papers on the clipboard, just like he was a receiving a UPS package.  He handed the clipboard back and looked to Delphine.  “She’s all yours, doc.”

 

* * *

 

 

“No hard feelings.” Benjamin adjusted the rearview mirror as he pulled the car around to DYAD’s service entrance.  He was mysterious, yes, but he was staunch in his alliance with Siobhan. 

 

“Right.” Sarah exhaled deeply as he got out of the car to ensure their surroundings were secure. Couldn’t be too careful given their circumstances.  All the trouble with the marrow transplant seemed like a lifetime ago. They were hopeful then. The marrow was safely in their grasp, all according to plan.  Everything changed when Rachel appeared in her Sarah disguise.  She’d almost forgotten she’d accused Benjamin of playing for the other side.  She still had her suspicions, but for now, she’d take his ride. “So, how we doin’ this?” She looked to Scott, focused again on the task at hand.

 

“I’ll go ahead, get these on ice in the lab and see what we have to work with.”  He tucked the egg canister safely into his backpack.

 

“Sounds good.” Cosima nodded in approval.  “We’ll catch up eventually.”  It seemed like a monumental journey to get there from the back seat of the car. “Careful, huh?”

 

“Don’t think they’re too worried about me.”  He shrugged sheepishly before taking his exit.  “See you in a bit.”

 

It was just the two of them alone again in the comfort of the spacious sedan.   “Y’know, you don’t have to do this, Sarah.”  Cosima had to give her one more out.   “Honestly, you can still turn around and go right back home.” She didn’t want Sarah to have to walk through the same doors she fled.  It wasn’t right after the sacrifices she’d already laid.

 

“I’m not lettin’ you go through this alone.”  For someone who never had a sister, Sarah had the routine down pretty well.  Kira was with Cal, and Felix was fine on his own. With Delphine gone, this was where Sarah needed to be.  Someone had to be there to hold her hand, and tell her to keep going.

 

Cosima’s steady wheeze floated through the silence.  She was used to being alone.  Hell, before all this clone business, she used to prefer it.  She would’ve never pegged herself as the type to be grateful to have a sister who could out-stubborn her.  Time to fly down the rabbit hole together. “Marion rolling out the red carpet for us, or what?” she tugged the cannula in place behind her ear.

 

Sarah opened the car door for her, and offered her hand for balance.  “New team’s waitin’ for us.”  She nodded to the orderly stationed at the door with a wheelchair, poised to receive the pair. 

 

“We’re hella fancy now.” Cosima snuck a smirk, leaning on Sarah while the orderly scampered over, easing her into the chair.  Sarah stared down the bay doors, her heart skipping a beat as the memories of her last trip through resurfaced.  _My name is Sarah Manning, and this is my unconditional surrender._

 

Cosima whipped her head around, trying to catch Sarah’s gaze.  There wasn’t much that could stop her in her tracks like this. “Hey…” She pinched the sleeve of her flannel, snapping her out of her stunned freeze.  The burden of championing her sister’s cause was starting to show.  “You’re okay.”

 

Sarah looked back to Cosima, taking comfort in the assurance.  One foot in front of the other, she started for the door.  This time was different.  This time they were getting help.  This time they were safe…as long as Marion was telling the truth. “Right, let’s see that lab of yours.” 

 

* * *

 

 

 _It’s not just me.  You have to love all of us._  Delphine caught herself lingering in front of the one-way window, observing Helena from behind the glass.  It was time to deliver on her promise.  She pulled a new pair of gloves from the box on the wall, and made her entrance.

 

Helena sat obediently on the exam table, her hands folded in her lap.  Just do what they say, and maybe they wouldn’t hurt her. It was the sad routine she’d grown all too familiar with over the years. 

 

“May I?” Delphine tentatively reached for her arm to draw a sample. Helena didn’t resist. She and Cosima were genetic identicals, sure, but they couldn’t be any more different.   It was more than just the bleach-blonde hair. There was a primal fear in her eyes that Cosima never had, even on her worst days with the illness.   Her guarded reserve contrasted with Cosima’s warm, generous spirit.  She secured the tourniquet around her upper arm, noticing the same good veins bulging.  She slid the needle in effortlessly, as she had on subjects hundreds of times before. This time was different. She needed Helena to know she was trustworthy, that she had an ally in this strange, intimidating base. “I miss your sisters too, Helena.” She was cautious with her volume, unsure of who could be listening.

 

“You know my sestras?” Helena’s eyes narrowed, looking for something sharp to defend herself. Did she do this to them too?

 

“I…” Delphine needed more if she wanted to quell her suspicions.  “I love Cosima, very much.”

 

Cosima.  The one who took her by the hand and called her beautiful the moment she met her.  The sick one.  If she really loved her, then maybe she could help after all.   “She is not well.”

 

“I’ve been trying to help her for a long time..” Delphine nodded sadly, removing the needle without so much of a flinch from Helena. 

 

“She was very kind to me.” Helena didn’t get to experience kindness and compassion from others, at least not until she met her sestras.  She held the offered gauze to the puncture mark.   “I hope she can be well soon.”

 

“Me too.”  Delphine held back from spilling the whole truth, how she was working night and day to crack the code, for fear that someone, somewhere could overhear. 

 

“When can I see them again?” Helena unwittingly asked the question on the forefront of Delphine’s worry-wracked thoughts.

 

  “Soon, I hope.” Delphine didn’t have a plan. Not yet, at least. But she sure as hell wasn’t going to stay here.  Cosima, in all her cheekiness, taught her to question.  She didn’t know why Helena was there, but she was going to keep her promise, and keep her safe.

 

* * *

 

 

“Wouldn’t have gotten it all if it wasn’t for you.” Cosima finished the two-dollar tour of her lab for Sarah, finding a seat on the familiar hospital bed that made her ‘relaxation zone’ a little less relaxing. 

 

“Imagine what you coulda gotten if I knew what the bloody hell I was talkin’ about then.” Sarah cracked a smile, recalling her exploits in her Cosima disguise.  The door clicked open, and Scott appeared.

 

“I kinda had to break into Leekie’s office, but I got the culture medium.”  Scott lugged the giant jugs on top of the lab bench.

 

“How’d ya manage that?” Sarah was liking this nerd more and more. 

 

“Slipped in with the cleaning crew.”  He patted his lab coat pockets, trying to remember where he stashed the papers he’d found. “Delphine, she um…” He produced the pilfered product.  “She managed to find Dr. Leekie’s notes on the baby teeth stem cell line.” They had a blueprint now. The tide was turning in their favor, albeit slowly. 

 

“Scott, you’re on fire, man.” Cosima beamed, wishing she had the energy to dash across the room and jump him for a hug. 

 

“It wasn’t so tough.” His cheeks tinged pink.

 

“Quit sellin’ yourself short, mate.”  Sarah peeked at the notes.  It may as well be written in Swedish to her, but at least it meant something to them.

 

Another knock at the door, followed by the click of the lock unlatching.  Cosima felt the knot in her stomach tighten as another DYAD doctor appeared in the frame.  “May I come in?”  She asked before crossing the threshold.

 

“Don’t think I could stop you if I wanted to.”  Cosima raised an eyebrow, straightening up on the bed.   Asking permission. That was definitely something new.

 

“You must be Cosima.” She’d read the file inside and out. She didn’t ask questions when she was suddenly reassigned to her case.  It was one of the first things she learned working at DYAD; when Topside says ‘jump’, you bring out the trampoline. 

 

“Geez, what gave it away?” Cosima fidgeted with the IV tubing snaking from her arm.  She didn’t expect her to smile at her cheeky remark.

 

“You got me there.” She clicked her pen, sticking back in her pocket, a nervous habit of hers.  “I’m doctor Imani Franklin, I’ll be your new physician.”

 

“Hope you have a better plan than her last one.” Sarah folded her arms.  Doctor Nealon was still a fresh burn in her memory.

 

“Well, I don’t mean to brag, but I’m triple-boarded in immunology, nephrology, and oncology, with a phD in genetics.”  It was a spectacular pedigree, and she was way too nonchalant about it.

 

“Are you, like, a violin prodigy too?” Cosima was impressed. On paper, this was definitely someone they wanted in their corner, but first, they needed to know she could be trusted.

 

“Trumpet, actually, but that’s another story for another day.”  Her eyes turned downward to the chart in her hands. Back to the serious subject at hand. “Cosima, I can treat your symptoms, but we both know that’s not enough.”

 

Cosima looked to Sarah, then to lab fridge containing the precious, precious cells.  If she wanted to have a chance, she had to take a leap of faith.  This doctor was unlike anyone she’d met in her short time at DYAD.  She talked to her like a person, not a test subject. Call it good vibes, or whatever, something told Cosima this was someone that was worthy of the information they held.  “We might have an idea for a treatment.”

 

“Cos…” Sarah knew where this was going, and she wasn’t sure it was the right direction. They just met her, how could she know she was trustworthy?  This was Cosima’s biology.  Her decision.   She swallowed the rest of her response, reluctantly letting Cosima take the wheel.

 

“We’ve got egg cells, and they match, but we don’t have time to try to figure out the best way to harvest a stem cell line.”  Her hands slowly wandered, planning out her words for her. 

 

Imani was surprised by her candor, but she was grateful for it.  After all, her mission was outlined very clearly.  Keep her alive, spare no expense, no questions asked. Topside had a habit of getting exactly what they wanted, and she did not want to disappoint.  A little cooperation went a long way towards that goal.

 

“You’ve got an amazing set up in here.”  She admired the lab. “If you and Mr. Smith can help me, we can have enough cells to try a treatment in a few days.”

 

It was better than any plan they could’ve cobbled together.  There wasn’t much for Cosima to consider.  As Delphine had said before, there was only one way forward, and this was it.  “Better get started then, huh?”

 

* * *

 

 

Delphine sat in the Commanding Officer’s surprisingly polished office.   The walls could barely contain the degrees and certificates he’d earned over the years.  “Sorry to keep you waiting, Doctor.”  The square-jawed military scientist took a seat behind his massive desk.  “Where are we with the subject?” 

 

“We’re running a few preliminary tests, we won’t really know much until the results come back.” The gentlemanly twang to his voice was cordial, but Delphine was guarded in her response.  Rachel had sent her there for a reason, and as of that moment, no one had really made it clear why.  “Sir, if you don’t mind my asking, why is she here?”

 

“It’s my understanding you were involved with the DYAD wing of Project LEDA.”  He leaned back in his chair, catching a glance at his notes.  “I assumed the interim director of a clone project would be interested in learning about her competition.”  A smile spread across his lips.

 

“Competition?” Delphine didn’t follow.  She’d been working for DYAD for years, if there was another program, certainly someone would’ve mentioned it.

 

“Maybe that’s too harsh a word.”  He chuckled. “More like curious, like-minded allies.”  He pushed a stack of files across the desk to her. 

 

Delphine thumbed through the stack, seeing the same face in every folder.  Male clones.  DYAD was not alone.  Her jaw slackened, undermining her attempts to keep a cool demeanor.

 

“Dr. Cormier, you just walked right into Project Castor."

 

* * *

 

           

            Cosima shuffled her aching body across the floor, trying not to wake her new lab mates.   After a long night of cell harvesting, Scott had fallen asleep at his computer, while Sarah slumbered, draped over the couch in the corner.  Neither of them allowed the thought of leaving her alone that night.  She hung her IV bag next to the fume hood, looking in at the warmed cells trying to proliferate.  Her lungs rebelled at the movement, hacking up more angry red streaks into the small cloth she kept handy.

           

Sarah stirred on the couch, startled by the noise.  “Cos, what are you doin’ up?  You’re ‘sposed to be restin’” She squinted into the light.

 

            “If we don’t change the culture medium on a rigid schedule, the cells starve.” Her trembling hands wouldn’t allow her to do the delicate work required of the task.  Try as she might, she couldn’t squeeze a pipette. She swiped at the shelf to her right, taking out her frustrations on the empty beakers and spare sheets.  

 

Sarah took a step back, letting Cosima vent through her outburst.   She couldn’t be useful in her own project, of course she was frustrated.  Sarah just wasn’t used to seeing her express it this way.   Sarah tentatively approached, pulling a stool under her so they could sit face-to-face.  She wasn’t prepared for the tears streaming down her faded-lined eyes. 

 

In all of the fallout from the mysterious clone disease, Cosima hadn’t allowed herself to straight-up cry.  Her frail frame shook with each sob.  Words were meaningless right now.  Sarah gently wrapped her arms around her, cradling her head on her shoulder, wishing she could absorb the pain and suffering her sister had to endure.  “I’m scared, Sarah.”  She whimpered.

 

“Me too.”  Sarah rubbed her back, steadying the relentless attack on Cosima’s failing lungs.  She didn’t know much about science, she was hardly useful in a lab, but she could hold her close, and let her know she wasn’t alone in this fight. “But we got a real plan now, yeah?” She tried to remind her of the day’s lone bright spot. 

 

“Yeah.”  Cosima wheezed a sigh, slowly coming down from the fearful ledge.  “Fate’s in the hands of a freakin’ wunderkind.”  She dragged the tank behind her, leaning heavily on Sarah for the march back to her bed. 

 

“That Wunderkind’s the only doctor left in this dump who can give us a little hope.”  Sarah fluffed the pillows, sitting on the edge as Cosima slid under the covers.  “She gets a pass for now.” Even bundled in sweaters with blankets piled on, Cosima was shivering.  Progression of the disease, or side effect of the medications, pick your poison.  Sarah laid down next to her, huddling in close to share the warmth she had to spare.  "Get some sleep, geek, big day tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Props to tumblr's punk-rock-science for the punky monkey prompting!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a bit of a busy... year and a half? Long story short, I read OBspec and figured there's no way i could top that :)  
> Here's a micro update with a chapter that's been sitting for a little bit. Enjoy!

“Ali? What are you still doing in bed?” Donnie dug for his sweater in the closet. “Hmm?” Alison slowly stirred, resisting the call to return to civilization.

“The kids’ soccer game, remember?” Donnie zippered the hoody “Season opener.”

“Son of a bee sting!” Alison flailed, her body seeking the fastest exit from the enveloping bed. “We’re supposed to bring the orange slices!” She rifled through her drawers to find the appropriate sweatsuit for the day. “Does Gemma have her mouthguard? She likes to pretend to lose it, and Oscar-“ She rattled off the tasks at a frantic clip before Donnie interrupted. 

“Relax, Ali.” He rested his hands on her shoulders. “I took care of it. All we need is you.” 

“Right.” She exhaled, framing her face with her hand, equal parts relieved and impressed by Donnie’s effort. Not too long ago, this would’ve been a crisis that unfolded for her alone. 

“Hey…” Donnie knew something had to be bothering her. These days, there were only so many things on her mind. “If you need to be at Felix’s place, just tell me.” 

“Wouldn’t be much use there.” She shook her head, resuming her pacing around the room as she plucked the rest of her outfit together. “Cosima’s getting worse.” She smoothed the creases in her sweatpants. “Sarah had to take her back to DYAD.” 

“But she just got out of there.” It didn’t make sense to Donnie. Seemed like the opposite of what they wanted to do. 

“Well, they’re the only ones who know about the disease, so….” They didn’t have a choice. “Besides, I’ve missed too much this week.” She straightened out her ponytail. “And, I never miss a game.” She put on a smile. Conveniently, it was also an opportunity to escape the clone drama, and pretend she had a normal life again, even if it was only for a couple of hours. “Pitter-patter, Donnie, let’s go.”

-

Sarah spent the night with her arms wrapped around Cosima’s frail frame trying to silence the shivering shudders. The coughing was worse at night, there was no way for Cosima to swallow the pulmonary outbursts when she was fast asleep in her medicated haze. The new doctor insisted it was the best thing she could do to rest, but all that sedation couldn’t calm the way her heart raced after each coughing attack. 

Cosima felt the warmth hugging her body, and for a fleeting moment, she thought she was back home in her cozy Minnesota apartment with Delphine by her side. The crackling in her lungs, and the antiseptic smell of the lab snaking past her nasal cannula quickly brought her back to her frightening reality. Her eyelids felt heavier this morning, taking far more effort to flutter open. Her sister, waiting right by her side slowly came into focus. Sarah didn’t try to hide the bags under her eyes, or the worry that rested behind them. 

“Hey.” Cosima croaked, the words feeling like gravel in her throat. 

“Hey y’self.” Sarah offered her hand for Cosima’s lazy palm tracing.

“Did you know you kick in your sleep?” Cosima’s hands felt like lead, her fingers weren’t up to the task. “I’d make breakfast, but I’m pretty sure the only things left in the fridge are old petri dishes.” 

“Yeah, think I’ll pass on those.” Sarah’s eyes wandered to the door, where Scott stood, balancing files full of data on one arm while he swiped his passcard with the other. He was fighting a losing battle with the door handle. Sarah hopped out of the bed to assist the eager young scientist. 

“Cool if I come in?” He asked, peeking his head inside once she opened the door. 

“Join the party.” Cosima beckoned through a cough. Each breath was getting harder to catch than the last. “Quit workin’ so hard, you’re making me look bad.” 

“I’m afraid I’m to blame.” Doctor Franklin followed close behind, looking rather ragged herself. A night of tending to a growing cell line had that effect. “The cells we harvested are showing remarkable growth. At this rate, we may be ready to test by the end of the day.” 

“Awesome.” Cosima wheezed, trying to will herself out of the bed. With the pace Cosima was physically deteriorating, this was welcome news. 

“And after that?” Sarah silenced her buzzing phone, trying to keep up with the doctor-speak. 

“Best case scenario, we move to transplantation soon after.” There were still a thousand steps before they got there, but Dr. Franklin needed her patient to feel a smidgen of hope if she wanted to see the finish line. “Honestly, I’ve worked with HeLa cells, and I’ve never seen growth like this.” She showed Cosima the promising photos taken from the microscope’s camera.

“Geez, doc, way to spoil a girl.” Cosima cleared her throat, attempting to stem the inevitable tide as she pored over the findings. “Lemme guess, we cracked the secret clone code too?”

“Not there yet.” Scott started thumbing through his copy of the book’s notes. “But I think I’m seeing a pattern in this chapter—“

“Shite, bugger off, will you?” Sarah muttered a little too loudly, trying to neutralize her ringing phone. All eyes turned to her after the sudden interruption.

“S. Felix must’ve told her what happened.” Sarah elaborated. She hadn’t seen her since she’d made the decision to turn herself in. Siobhan was going to track her down eventually. Still, she hadn’t planned on including her on the need to know list. She was keeping something from her, and until she spilled the whole truth, she wasn’t worthy of a clone club membership. 

“You should go see her.” Cosima finally got both feet on the ground. “Let her know you’re okay.” Parents worried, it was their job. If Cosima told her parents about any of this, they’d be on a plane before she got off the phone with them. 

“There’s something she’s not tellin’ us.” She flipped her mane out of nervous habit. She’d had enough of the secrets. Project LEDA, the Birdwatchers, Ethan Duncan, Siobhan’s reluctance to share these minor details made her dangerous. 

“Not gonna find out what it is from all the way over here.” Cosima ambled to the lab bench, slowly perching on a stool next to Scott. “And hey, maybe she’s, like, wanting to tell you.”

“Yeah, sure she’s been meaning to tell us about Castor all this time.” Sarah rolled her eyes, growing impatient. “She knew, Cos.”

“Okay, okay, but she doesn’t know we know, right?” Her hands floated forward in thought as fast as her aching body would allow. “We can use this, get something else out of her, ya know?”

“Leverage, right.” Sarah sighed. “I don’t know, she’s gonna have questions, could make things worse if I’m not careful.” She was running out of excuses. The truth was, she was reluctant to leave after the last couple of days with Cosima, even if it was for only a few hours. 

“Honestly, you’re gonna be bored outta your brains once we get into full-on geek monkey mode here.” Cosima could smell the bullshit, cannula be damned. 

“Gonna run me out of here, then?” Sarah finally cracked a smile, eliciting a mirroring grin from Cosima. 

“Pretty much.” Cosima rested her elbows on the lab bench, keeping herself upright by the skin of her teeth. “We’ll be fine, promise.”

“You call me if anything changes, yeah?” Sarah shrugged her jacket over her flannel. “I mean it.” She glared at Scott. 

“Yeah, yeah of course.” He nodded reflexively. He may have towered over her in height, but he knew from her tone she’d take him down in a heartbeat., no questions asked. 

“Be careful, will ya?” Cosima implored her. “Just make sure she’s not hiding any more surprises up her sleeve.”

“Yeah, we’ll see.” Sarah pulled up her hood before disappearing into the hall.

Cosima erupted into a coughing fit, holding back until Sarah was clear of the hallway. Even after the past few nights, she was still trying to hide how badly the disease was ravaging her body. Sarah had enough on her plate. She didn’t need this burden to get in the way of finding the truth from the people that kept using the sisters as pawns.

“Whoa, easy.” Scott swooped in to hold her up on the stool while gravity tried to steal her down. The disease was proving its might once more. 

“Cosima, you need to be in bed…” Dr. Franklin did her part to assist. She’d read about the disease plenty, doing her research on the others that were sick, but to see it manifested in such an advanced state, on someone who was bull-headed enough to fight was remarkable. 

“It’s okay, I’m okay.” Her breath caught in her chest. The good doctor was right. It was evident with each slow, lumbering step back to her bed in her not-so-chill chill space. 

“Your lungs are flooding and filled with polyps. You’re not okay.” Dr. Franklin spit the harsh reminder. They weren’t exactly there to play science class. 

“Don’t forget the rest of my body.” Cosima didn’t resist the oxygen mask being secured around her dreads. The cannula wasn’t cutting it anymore. It was just another reminder of how precious her time was. She reached for her computer, letting it rest on her lap. She may have conceded this round, but she wasn’t done fighting. 

“Let us do the heavy lifting, eh?” Dr. Franklin hung a fresh bag of IV drugs on the bedside pole while Cosima dove back into her notes on her laptop, helping in the only way her body would allow. 

 

-

“Good job, Oscar!” Alison yelled as she bounced down the sideline. The thrill of competition had a way of making her forget all about the events of the last couple of days, if only for a few blissful minutes. 

“Ali’s bounced back so well.” Charity quipped to Meera as they feigned interest in the game in front of them. The off-field suburban drama was too intriguing to pass up. “Makes you wonder if she’s back to…” She mimed a pill-popping motion.

“How bout you get us those oranges. Hm?” Alison quipped, cutting off the gossip train.

-

Art flashed the lights of his unmarked car, parked dutifully beside the DYAD’s back entrance. Sarah froze in her tracks before recognizing the vehicle. When she saw he was in there alone, she cautiously approached, her head on a swivel until she opened the passenger side door. 

“Bloody hell, did Felix tell everyone?”

“Not by choice.” Art admitted, pulling out of the spot. “Hadn’t heard from you in awhile, and he was the only one to pick up the phone. Didn’t take too long to pull it out of him.” Art wasn’t going to fail Sarah the way he failed Beth. Harass her brother, be her shadow, whatever it took. 

“Alright, then. Let’s see what S has on this Castor mess.”


End file.
